Coleman Hawkins and his Illini teammates defeated Iowa State 72-69 in NCAA Sweet 16 action Thursday night and move on to the Elite 8 in March Madness. Illinois will take on #1 seed Connecticut Saturday afternoon at 3:09 pm EST in Boston.
The Illini never trailed in the game and dominated the boards all night. Illinois had 6 different players grab at least 5 rebounds with Hawkins getting 6 boards along with his 12 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. Coleman hit 2 three point shots from long range and had a high quality 36 minutes on the floor. Hawkins has scored in double figures in all three contests so far in the tournament with at least 2 or more three point shots in the last three games.
Illinois is 3-0 in the NCAA tourney so far this year and with a win Saturday over UCONN they will move on to Glendale Arizona and the Final Four. This is the 34th appearance in March Madness for the Illini and they have made the Final Four 5 times, the Elite 8 10 times, but have never won the March Madness event.
