Ninth-seeded Iowa and third-seeded Illinois met in Houston on Saturday night with a spot in the Final Four on the line between the Big Ten foes. After a hot start to the first half, though, the South Regional Final came to a screeching, or rather a blaring, halt.
With 7:43 remaining in the first half and Iowa leading 22-20, the shot-clock buzzer went off at the Toyota Center and wouldn’t stop. The horn sounded for over seven minutes, causing an 11-minute delay and requiring the NCAA staff running the Houston regional to unplug the shot-clock horn and turn off the jumbotron.
When the horn finally stopped, the Illini and Hawkeyes fans in attendance cheered in unison, maybe the only time that will happen all night.
THE BUZZER IS FIXED 🚨🤣#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/PYX7wbAltG
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 28, 2026
Shot clock buzzer delayed South Regional Final by 11 minutes in the first half
With the buzzer unplugged, the scorer’s table has been forced to use an airhorn to indicate substitutions to the referees. The arena is also noticeably darker, with no Jumbotron. Yet, neither the delay nor the change in lighting has slowed down the red-hot shooting of Iowa’s All-Big Ten point guard Bennett Stirtz.
Stirtz hit his first two shots after the delay and finished the first half with 15 points on 6-9 shooting. Yet, despite his strong play, Illinois has been able to hang around, trailing just 32-28. Iowa led the entire first half after jumping out to a 12-2 lead. The two teams met once during the regular season, a 75-69 Illinois victory.
It’s safe to assume that the NCAA officials on site, including VP of men’s basketball Dan Gavitt, will work to rectify the technical issues during halftime. Halftime is extended to 20 minutes during the NCAA Tournament, which will afford them a few additional minutes to get the buzzer and jumbotron up and running.
The shot clock has not been affected by the buzzer and is still operational.