No. 5 Houston Upsets No. 4 Illinois in NCAA Tournament to Clinch Sweet 16 Berth

Houston remained red hot with a 68-53 victory over Illinois in the second round of the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament Sunday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The fifth-seeded Cougars have won 11 of their past 12 games since a brief two-game losing streak in mid-February to reach the Sweet 16. That run of success includes winning the AAC tournament and their March Madness opener, an 82-68 triumph over UAB on Friday.

While the No. 4 seed Fighting Illini escaped an upset bid from 13th-seeded Chattanooga on Friday, they weren't able to overcome a strong UH squad in the round of 32. They finish with a 23-10 record, the program's third straight year topping 20 wins.

Key facts.

Taze Moore had 21 points and 7 rebounds.

Shead had 18 points, 3 assists, 3 steals.

Kyler had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists.

Kofi Cockburn had 19 points and 8 Rebounds.

Alfonso Plummer had 8 points and 2 steals.

Houston defense stole the spotlight.

Houston plays at one of the slowest paces in the country, and when it's able to pair that with suffocating defense, the Cougars look like a national championship contender. Just ask Memphis, which was held to a minuscule 53 points on 63 possessions in the AAC title game.

The Cougars were locked in on that end of the floor in the first half. They held the Illini to 36 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes, including a 4-of-13 mark from three-point range.

UH made it clear from the opening tip it was going to heavily tilt its defensive game plan toward Cockburn, who entered the day averaging 21 points through 27 games this season. It compressed the defense toward the paint and forced Illinois to work on the perimeter.

It was highly effective early, as the Illini had just 13 points at the final media timeout of the first half. Their offense showed signs of life right before halftime with a trio of threes to keep the game within reach.

Houston never relented, though. Its ability to deny early pass entries to the paint was a game-changer, and it left the Illinois offense stagnant and looking for answers.

The game wasn't nearly as lopsided as the final score would suggest, but the Cougars forced the Illini to work hard on every single possession, and eventually, their own offense was able to heat up and pull away.

Cockburn doesn't get enough help.

Cockburn is the engine that made the Illinois offense run all season. He's averaged 13.7 shots while shooting 59.5 percent from the field. The fact he walked into the locker room at halftime with just three shot attempts was an issue.

The Illini knew that wasn't a recipe for success and started feeding him the ball early in the second half. He attempted four field goals and two free throws in the first five minutes after the break to help get the game tied.

While Cockburn finally got rolling in the second half, the rest of the Illini offense didn't follow suit. No other player reached double figures in scoring.

Illinois finished the game shooting 35.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent on threes. Even when it was able to create some open looks in the second half, it failed to knock them down.

The game continued to hang in the balance, and one hot streak of shooting could have flipped the game in the No. 4 seed's favor, but that never arrived, and Houston took advantage to move on.

What is next?

Houston advances to face either No. 1 seed Arizona or No. 9 seed TCU in the South Region's Sweet 16. The Wildcats and Horned Frogs are scheduled to tip off at 9:40 p.m. ET on Sunday.