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BOSTON – Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. poured in 29 points and third-seeded Illini held off a second-half rally to earn a 72-69 victory over second-seeded Iowa State on Thursday night in a battle of East Region teams in the Sweet 16.

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The Fighting Illini will face top-seeded UConn in the Elite Eight on Saturday. The Huskies beat San Diego State earlier Thursday.

After trailing by nine with just under 14 minutes left in the game, the Cyclones (29-8) found themselves within 56-54 following a Curtis Jones 3-pointer with 5:27 to go.

Shannon and Luke Goode prevented Iowa State from moving in front by sandwiching Tre King’s layup with a pair of triples, making it 62-56 in favor of Illinois (29-8).

The Cyclones trailed by at least three the rest of the way, and Shannon’s steal and slam with 22 seconds to play clinched the victory.

Shannon is now 7-0 against Iowa State dating back to his Texas Tech days. He was with the Red Raiders for three seasons (2019-22).

Coleman Hawkins chipped in 12 points and six rebounds for the Fighting Illini, who outshot Iowa State 42.1 percent to 39.7 percent from the field.

Jones paced Iowa State with 26 points. Keshon Gilbert supplied 14, and King had 12 to go along with seven boards.

Gilbert lit a spark under the Cyclones, scoring eight points in the opening 3:38 of the second half to cut Iowa State’s deficit to 41-37.

It didn’t take long for Illinois to push the lead to nine, doing so when Shannon drove for a layup less than three minutes later to make it 48-39.

Then the Fighting Illini faced some adversity in the form of foul trouble for Shannon, who picked up his fourth personal with 11:17 to go. Shannon went to the bench, and Iowa State capitalized on his departure, using a 11-5 spurt to get within 56-54.

Illinois scored the first eight points of the game and later led 16-6, taking advantage of Iowa State’s 2-for-12 start from the field. But Jones got the Cyclones on track, knocking down a 3-pointer before converting a three-point play to make it a four-point game.

The Fighting Illini’s advantage grew to 24-12 with 6:31 left in the first half before Illinois took a 36-26 lead into the break.

–Nick Galle, Field Level Media

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – If Iowa State wants to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000, it will have to find a way to get through Terrence Shannon Jr.

Shannon is a perfect 6-0 against the Cyclones, and he will have a chance to improve that record tonight (10:09pm EDT) when Illinois and Iowa State meet in a battle of East Region teams in the Sweet 16.

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All six of Shannon’s previous victories vs. the second-seeded Cyclones came when he was at Texas Tech, and he averaged 10.0 points per game across those contests.

Since joining the third-seeded Fighting Illini (28-8) last season, Shannon has blossomed. He is averaging a team-high 23.3 points per game in 2023-24, most recently scoring 30 on 10-of-14 shooting in Illinois’ 89-63 rout of No. 11 seed Duquesne on Saturday.

Rather than focusing on the damage that Shannon and Illinois have the potential to do, Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger is more concerned with how his team executes its own game plan.

“I would just say we believe in our way of doing things, and we certainly want to be aware of tendencies of our opponents and things that we can prepare for,” Otzelberger said. “But we spend a lot more time focusing on us being the best version of ourselves.

“So we will absolutely be very mindful of that opportunity, and at the same time, my messaging to our guys is going to be to continue to focus on us, being the best team that we can be.”

The Cyclones (29-7), who rank fourth in the country in scoring defense at 61.3 points allowed per game, beat seventh-seeded Washington State 67-56 in the second round. They got 15 points from Tamin Lipsey and 14 from Curtis Jones.

Iowa State overcame an ice-cold start in which it went 1-for-13 from the field and scored just four points through the game’s first nine minutes.

Points could be hard to come by again on Thursday against a Fighting Illini defense that just held Duquesne star Dae Dae Grant to seven points on 2-of-9 shooting. Grant came into the game averaging 16.7 points.

Still, forward Coleman Hawkins doesn’t believe Illinois has hit its ceiling.

“I feel really confident in this team because I feel like there is still something missing that we haven’t reached yet,” Hawkins said. “I think there is a whole other level of intensity that we can play with, both offensively and defensively.”

While the Fighting Illini have seemingly peaked at the right time and are riding a six-game winning streak, Illinois guard/forward Marcus Domask knows his team can’t take its foot off the gas against the Cyclones.

“I think we’re hitting our stride and turning in the right direction. You always want to start playing your best basketball come March. And I think we’re doing that. I feel confident,” Domask said. “Iowa State is a really good team. So we’ve got to play our best to beat them.”

Iowa State is no stranger to the Sweet 16, also reaching it in 2022.

“Nothing is better — sweeter — than going to the Sweet 16 twice in three years,” Cyclones forward Robert Jones said.

Meanwhile, the Fighting Illini are playing past the Round of 32 for the first time since 2005, when they ended up going all the way to the national championship game and falling to North Carolina.

For Illinois, Domask backs Shannon with 16.1 points per game, while Hawkins is averaging 12.3. Quincy Guerrier pairs an average of 9.8 points with a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game.

Keshon Gilbert paces Iowa State with 13.7 points per game, followed by Lipsey (12.5 ppg), Milan Momcilovic (11.2) and Curtis Jones (10.6).

Thursday marks the 15th meeting between the teams. The Illini hold an 11-3 advantage in the all-time series.

–Nick Galle, Field Level Media