Keaton Wagler's message to Illini fans proves Houston had no home-court advantage

The Toyota Center might as well have been called 'State Farm South' because for the majority of the second half against Houston it sounded like an Illini game. 

There was a big deal made about Illinois and the rest of the Midwest Region needing to beat the Cougars in their city to reach the Final Four. But as Keaton Wagler pointed out, it was nothing more than another tough road assignment in a loud environment. And when the Illini started putting distance between them and Houston on the scoreboard, things got a little quieter.

By that point, Wagler couldn't even hear the Cougar fans.

"We weren't worried about the fans. We've played in tough environments before on the road many, many times," Wagler said. "Shout out to our fans for coming in and being loud. I think they were really loud. I heard our fans more than their fans. Yeah, shout out to them."

Illinois walked into Houston and shut down the Cougars

Expect those same loud fans to show up in droves for the Illini on Saturday night when Illinois has to go through an old conference foe, Iowa, to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2005. 

The first half on Thursday felt much like you would expect between the two teams. It was rough, gritty and offense was hard to come by. It looked like a game that neither team was going to give an inch. But then the second half happened and Illinois got hot while Houston stayed ice-cold. 

A 17-0 run from Illinois turned a one-point game into an 18-point lead and any concerns about playing a road game were null. The only thing Houston got out of playing at the Toyota Center was a short bus ride home.

"Yeah, we weren't worried about how close their campus or if we're playing in their city. We knew they were going to show up like they have been all year long," Andrej Stojakovic added. "That was least of our worries, to be honest. We were just focusing on coming out here and executing a good game plan."