For the first time in more than two decades, the Illinois men’s basketball team will still be dancing when the Final Four tips off.

Iowa’s underdog run in the NCAA Tournament ended Saturday with a 71-59 loss to a dominant Illinois team. Before Illinois could cut down the nets at Houston’s Toyota Center, a buzzer malfunction caused a loud, roughly 10-minute delay.

The buzzer initially sounded signaling the end of a media timeout with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. The horn continued blaring for about another seven minutes.

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Players stood on the court ready to play for a couple of minutes before both teams started to warm up as the buzzer continued to sound.

It was finally silenced, to cheers from the crowd, but then the main scoreboard and video screen that hangs over the middle of the court went dark.

The game ultimately resumed with the big scoreboard still off. Two smaller scoreboards at each end of the arena were working.

Freshman guard Keaton Wagler scored 25 points to help secure Illinois’ first Final Four berth since 2005.

This will be the sixth overall trip to the Final Four for Illinois, which has never won a national title. The Fighting Illini will face either Duke or UConn next week in Indianapolis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Outspoken ESPN star Stephen A. Smith took a clear position in the ongoing debate about transgender athletes’ participation in girls and women’s sports.

“Biological men should not be competing against biological girls in sports, period,” Smith said during an appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher” after the Olympics’ policy on transgender women was mentioned.

“What about protecting the young ladies? Young ladies going up against biological men — biological men — there is no excuse for that.”

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Smith then mentioned former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas.

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“Lia Thomas, for example, was a male, and he was ranked over 400th in the world. … And then he became a she. … And No. 1. Well … does it really take an Einstein to realize that there’s something wrong with that picture?”

Smith has previously spoken about his views on transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, including during a February 2025 Radio Row interview ahead of that year’s Super Bowl.

“So, that’s how I look at it. LGBTQ rights and all that stuff, I’m in full support of that, but when transgender athletes — men — are transitioning to women and they’re competing in female sports, that’s a different animal to me,” he said.

“That’s not just about LGBTQ rights. That’s about preying on the rights of females out there everywhere who were born female, and they’re at a decided disadvantage.”

Those comments from Smith surfaced around the same time in 2025 when President Donald Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, which directed federal agencies to interpret Title IX based on biological sex at birth.

The NCAA complied with Trump’s executive order and changed its policy.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

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The mother of slain college student Sheridan Gorman is speaking out, vowing a “fight for justice” after the 18-year-old was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant earlier this month in Chicago.

Jessica Gorman delivered emotional remarks Saturday at a vigil in Yorktown Heights, New York, honoring her daughter, a Loyola University Chicago freshman whose life was cut short in what authorities describe as a sudden, violent attack.

“I want to say this gently, but honestly, as a mom. I’m angry,” Jessica Gorman said. “I’m like completely heartbroken, and we are going to fight for justice for our sweet Sheridan, and we’re going to fight for change.”

While acknowledging that “not everyone” will see the situation the same way, Jessica Gorman underscored what she described as a universal truth shared by parents.

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“At the heart of all of this, we all want the same thing — for your children and for ours to be safe, to be protected, and to come home,” Jessica Gorman said. “Because, at the end of the day, that’s what this is all about. All of our kids, every single one of them, protecting them, loving them, showing up for them. And that is how we honor her.”

Sheridan Gorman, a New York native, was killed at around 1:06 a.m. March 19 while with friends near a pier in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.

Officials allege Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, fired one shot at the Loyola University Chicago student, killing her.

Gorman was reportedly only a few months away from completing her freshman year.

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Medina-Medina was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

At the vigil, the family’s attorney, Thomas Tripodianos, warned against what he described as growing complacency about public safety.

“If we accept this, even silently, then we are accepting a reality where young people are not as safe as they should be. And that is not acceptable,” Tripodianos said. “And there must be justice. Real justice.”

Family members and friends also shared memories of Sheridan, remembering her impact on those around her.

“Sheridan, you are deeply loved at Loyola,” Steven Betancourt, director of campus ministry at Loyola University Chicago, said. “You are deeply missed, and you will live on in the lives you touched and forever changed.”

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The Gorman family has sharply criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, arguing that their daughter’s death “demands accountability.”

“She was doing something entirely normal — walking near her campus with friends. She should be here,” the Gorman family said regarding comments by Johnson.

The suspect appeared in court Friday and was ordered to remain in custody, according to FOX 32 Chicago.

He faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a gun.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.