HOUSTON — Houston is in the Sweet 16 for a seventh straight season, and this trip might be its sweetest yet.
The second-seeded Cougars meet No. 3 Illinois on Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region semifinals at Toyota Center, the home of the Houston Rockets that sits just over two miles from their campus.
Though it’s technically a neutral site, the Cougars, last year’s national runners-up, consider it a home game.
“Yeah, 100 percent,” Houston forward Joseph Tugler said. “We’re at the crib.”
And how does he expect the crowd to be?
“Lit,” Tugler said. “That’s it. Can’t hear nothing. You ain’t gonna hear nothing out there.”
While some coaches have complained in the past when matched up in the tournament with a team essentially playing at home, Illinois coach Brad Underwood had no gripes.
Underwood recalled a time during his first head coaching job at Dodge City Community College when he drove the team in a van more than 900 miles from its campus in Kansas to a tournament in Arizona.
“If you had told me back then that I’m getting to coach basketball in the Sweet 16 and play Houston, I would sign up for it, I would crawl to get there,” Underwood said. “If we want to beat them, no matter where we play them, we would have to play great. Guess what? We’re going to have to do that tomorrow. And I think they’re going to have to play well if they want a chance to beat us.”
Though Houston is thrilled to be playing so close to home, the Cougars know that a favorable location won’t mean anything if they don’t play well. In last year’s Sweet 16, Houston met Purdue in Indianapolis, which is just over an hour from the Boilermakers’ campus.
Houston won 62-60.
“It doesn’t really give you too much of an advantage, honestly,” the Cougars’ Milos Uzan said. “Every team here is good. … I think we just continue with the same preparation and live with the results.”
Houston beat Idaho and Texas A&M in the first two rounds, and Illinois beat Penn and VCU.
Illinois is in the round of 16 for the second time in three seasons. Underwood led his team to the Elite Eight in 2024.
The Illini rely on their powerful offense and are ranked 17th in the country in scoring at 84.7 points per game. As has long been the case under coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars win with defense, ranking second in the nation by limiting opponents to 62.2 points a game.
Both squads are led by fabulous freshman guards. Keaton Wagler averages 17.8 points a game to lead Illinois, and Kingston Flemings averages 16.2 points for Houston.
“They’re both, I would say, mature beyond their years in terms of poise,” Underwood said. “And, obviously, the successes both those young men have had this season are pretty paralleled in terms of their growth and what their impact’s been on their team.”
Nebraska, Iowa renew their Big Ten rivalry
Nebraska and Iowa have long been rivals, but Thursday night’s matchup will be their first in March Madness. The Cornhuskers are having their most successful season after snapping an 0-8 tournament slump with wins over Troy and Vanderbilt to punch their ticket to Houston.
Iowa knocked off last year’s champion, Florida, to reach the Sweet 16. Adding to the rivalry is that former Iowa player Pryce Sandfort is now starring for Nebraska.
The Big Ten squads have met twice this season, with each winning once.
“It’s obviously pretty intense, both teams care about their sports, and I think it’s any sport you play, Iowa-Nebraska, it’s going to be high-level intense and people care about it a lot,” Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz said. “So, it will be a packed out arena and just looking forward to it.”
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said the rigors of the conference have prepared both teams for this challenge.
“Let me just say this about the Big Ten: They have six teams in the Sweet 16. That’s phenomenal,” he said. “And … it prepares you for this moment playing against that quality of opponent night-in and night-out. I’m just really happy for the league. It’s been a fun ride, it’s a grind to get through it. But it’s going to be fun to see hopefully multiple teams in the Final Four.”