NCAA men's tournament: Illinois overwhelmed by Houston, bows out in 2nd round again

Illinois has bowed out of the NCAA men's tournament in the second round for the second straight season.

Last year as a No. 1 seed, the Illini were shocked in the Round of 32 by Loyola Chicago. This time around as a No. 4 seed in the South region, Illinois was no match for the physicality and athleticism of No. 5 Houston.

Houston out-hustled Illinois, the Big Ten champions, throughout the first half to build a double-digit lead, withstood an Illinois run that tied the game early in the second half and then pulled away down the stretch en route to a 68-53 victory.

In the win, Houston was led by a 21-point effort from Taze Moore while Jamal Shead and Kyler Edwards pitched in 18 and 15 points apiece.

But more important than the offensive output was Houston’s tenacity on the defensive end and on the offensive glass. The Cougars forced 17 Illinois turnovers, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, had eight steals and limited Illinois to just 34% from the field. Kofi Cockburn, Illinois’ All-American big man, scored 19 points but none of his teammates joined him in double figures.

With the victory, Houston is advancing to the Sweet 16 for the third straight NCAA tournament, where it will meet the winner of Sunday’s matchup between No. 1 seed Arizona and No. 9 TCU. The Cougars made it all the way to the Final Four last year.

Does this group have a similar run in it?

Houston defense swarmed Illinois early, held off 2nd half runs

There wasn’t much offense from either side early on as both teams shot a combined 4-of-20 from the field to begin the game.

While both teams struggled to make shots, Illinois coupled that with a slew of turnovers. The Illini turned it over nine times in the first half, and there was a point late in the half where Houston had more points off turnovers (12) than Illinois had points (11).

As Houston built a 23-11 lead, its defense swarmed the 7-foot, 285-pound Cockburn in the post and dared Illinois’ other players to make winning plays. They couldn’t do it as Alfonso Plummer, Coleman Hawkins and Andre Curbelo shot a combined 1-of-14 from the field in the first half.

With those players struggling, Illinois coach Brad Underwood went to two freshmen — RJ Melendez and Luke Goode — for an offensive boost. It worked. Illinois hit five of its final six shots and got 11 combined points from Melendez and Goode to cut Houston’s lead to 30-26 at halftime.

The offensive issues from Illinois overshadowed the fact that Houston was struggling to shoot as well. Cockburn then opened the second half with consecutive buckets to tie the score at 30-30.

Later in the second half, Illinois tied the score again, this time at 40-40. Illinois, though, could just never push through and take the lead. Any time the Illini made the run, Houston punched back.

Houston's lead was consistently in the single digits and a four-point play from Plummer cut the UH lead to 54-49 with 4:52 to play. From that point forward, however, Houston outscored Illinois 14-4 to turn what was a close game into a 15-point victory.

During that closing flurry from Houston, this fantastic hustle play by Fabian White Jr. to set up a Moore layup told the story of the Cougars’ win.

In the end, the tougher, balanced and more-disciplined team emerged with the victory. That's what has made Houston such a tough out in tournament play under Kelvin Sampson.

And for Illinois, the inability to match Houston's level of play resulted in another NCAA tournament disappointment.