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Iowa vs. Illinois delay: NCAA releases statement on buzzer issue during Elite Eight game

Danby: Daniel Hager21 hours agoDanielHagerOn3

Midway through Saturday night’s South Regional final between No. 3 seed Illinois and No. 9 seed Iowa, the in-game buzzer malfunctioned. This led to an 11-minute delay of play, which even led to both teams getting shots up while the situation was attended to.

Following the shutdown of the in-game buzzer, an airhorn was used as a substitution. Although the issue ultimately did not affect gameplay, it was quite humorous to say the less. Fans from both teams let out a large cheer once the buzzer was finally shut down.

As the second half raged on in Houston, NCAA SVP Dan Gavitt released a statement on the buzzer issue.

“An unfortunate equipment malfunction caused an 11-minute delay in today’s South Regional championship game between Illinois and Iowa,” Gavitt said in the statement. “With 7:43 remaining in the first half, the scoreboard control system froze, which also caused the integrated horn to freeze as well, leading to the horn going off for approximately seven minutes.

“To silence the horn, building personnel had to shut down the main-center hung videoboard, which is connected to the horn. During the delay, teams were allowed to warm up on the court. The game clock and shot clock k were not affected, and a manual horn is being used for the remainder of the game. There was an attempt to reset the center-hung videoboard at halftime, but the issue could not be resolved.”

Illinois holds off Iowa 71-59 to punch ticket to Final Four

Thanks to a strong second half push, Illinois downed Iowa 71-59 to punch its first ticket to the Final Four since 2005. The Illini trailed 32-28 at halftime, but outscored the Hawkeyes 43-27 over the final 20 minutes. Superstar freshman Keaton Wagler led the way with 25 points on 8-17 shooting.

“This group is special,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said postgame. “We dealt with a lot of adversity in the first half. We beat a really good Iowa team that’s been playing great. Our resilience was unbelievable. Guys just kept throwing body blows. We just kept hanging in there. Here I am, a JUCO ball coach from Kansas, going to the Final Four with a group of guys that I love. I couldn’t be more proud.”

In its first Final Four game in 21 seasons, Illinois will face off against the winner of Duke/UConn. The winner will head to the National Championship game. The Illini have never won a National Championship, as it fell to North Carolina in the 2005 title game.