Key Stat Shows Brad Underwood's Coaching Growth in Illinois' 2026 Final Four Run

Let’s go down the list of Illinois’ regular-season losses: Alabama (Illini halftime lead of 42-41). Nebraska (tied at 37 at the break). Michigan State (Illinois up four at half). Wisconsin in Champaign (Illini up six after 20 minutes of action). UCLA (Illinois with a seven-point halftime lead). Wisconsin in Chicago (the Illini were up six at the break).

Save for the UConn and Michigan losses, Illinois held a lead or was tied in all of its defeats heading into the NCAA Tournament. In other words, the second half has rarely been kind to the Illini in its losses. Although some of that may be sheer coincidence (opponents got hot in the second half and/or Illinois had a dry spell), it was also influenced by all-around poor late-game management and a lack of halftime adjustments from Brad Underwood – all of which he received criticism for.

In the NCAA Tournament, though, Illinois has also been a different squad in the second half – but, this time around, as a runaway freight train. Even in the first round against Penn, the Illini held just a 10 point lead at the break. Against VCU in the Round of 32, it was just seven. By the Sweet 16, Illinois’ halftime lead was just two against Houston. And in the Elite Eight vs. Iowa, the Illini actually found themselves in a four-point hole after 20 minutes of action.

Brad Underwood's game-coaching strides in one stat

Yet Underwood’s club managed to win all four of those games – and each by double digits. Illinois’ second-half point differential of plus-63 in the Big Dance heading into the Final Four ranks as the fourth-highest total of all time, per CBS Sports.

In this tournament, Underwood has flipped the script, launching himself into elite game-manager status – an air he has rarely sniffed (and certainly not this year). The strides he has made in that area in just four games is nothing short of spectacular – and they’re the primary reason the Illini are set to play in the Final Four next Saturday.

“I didn’t have to talk much [at] halftime about X’s and O’s,” Underwood said, addressing the Iowa victory. “We got good shots. I just wanted to see if we’d counterpunch. And I thought we leveled off the first half, but I didn’t think we ever really crawled in. And we had three fouls in the first half. Again, we’re not out there trying to maul them and foul, but we had to have some tenacity and some aggressiveness. It started kind of with [Kylan Boswell] on that play, and just kind of grew. From there, obviously, it worked. Six field goals [for Iowa in the second half], and only one of them was a two.”

On Saturday against Iowa, it may have just been an old-fashioned fire the Illini needed lit under them – which Underwood clearly sparked – at the break.

In the Sweet 16 against Houston, though, it was a lack of schematic adjustment that impressed. Illinois’ renowned offense was in shambles through the first half, yet Underwood hunkered down, maintained the plan of attack and trusted his squad to settle in and execute – which it did (scoring 41 points in the second half).

Time and again in the tournament, Underwood has pushed (or decided against pushing) all of the right buttons. Riding the hot hand of Andrej Stojakovic in both the Houston game and Iowa contest proved to be the right call offensively, while shifting Stojakovic on to Hawkeyes star guard Bennett Stirtz was also an exceptional move.

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, one could never imagine Underwood going head-to-head with the likes of a Dan Hurley or Jon Scheyer in the game-tactician department, but entering the Final Four, it feels as though Illinois has just the man it would want to pull the strings in the biggest moments.