Illini edge Iowa State, advance to Elite 8

BOSTON (WMBD/WYZZ) — Terrance Shannon Jr. didn’t score 30 points this time but he didn’t have to.

Illinois’ star guard scored 29 points to lead his team to a 72-69 win over Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament East Region semifinals at TD Garden on Thursday. The win sends Illinois to the East Region final against defending national champ UConn.

UConn beat San Diego State, 82-52, in the other semifinal in the East Region. The Illinois-UConn match-up in the Elite 8 is set to tipoff at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Shannon, who scored 30 points in Illinois’ second-round win over Duquesne, hit three 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the game as Illinois roared out to a 14-6 lead. But his biggest play may have come at the end of the game when he stole a pass and raced down the floor for a dunk that gave Illinois a 70-64 lead with 17 seconds left.

Illinois led by as many as 13 points but Iowa State trimmed the lead to two when Curtis Jones hit a pair of free throws to make it a 53-51 ballgame with 7:17 to play. But the Illini answered by scoring nine points in 79 seconds on a Marcus Domask three-point play and three-point shots from Shannon and Luke Goode.

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