Greg Eklund

The Fighting Illini were a number three seed.

They had to work their way through Houston instead of nearby Chicago, but they were undeterred in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes en route to a 71-59 victory.

Keaton Wagler, an unheralded high school senior from Kansas a year ago, scored 25 points and was the region's most outstanding player.

This is what kids dream of.

I know I dreamed of this when I was growing up, playing in the Final Four, competing for a national championship.

In the West Regional, Arizona defeated Purdue 79-64 to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2001.

For NPR News, I'm Greg Eklund.

We need to be here to show we believe in something better than what's going on right now.

The Fighting Illini were a No.

3 seed.

They had to work their way through Houston instead of nearby Chicago, but they were undeterred in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes en route to a 71-59 victory.

Keaton Wagler, an unheralded high school senior from Kansas a year ago, scored 25 points and was the region's most outstanding player.

You know, this is what kids dream of.

I know I dreamed of this when I was growing up, playing in the Final Four, competing for a national championship.

In the West Regional, Arizona defeated Purdue 79-64 to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2001.

For NPR News, I'm Greg Eklund.

Notre Dame point guard Hannah Hidalgo was the floor leader.

She scored 31 points and added 11 rebounds, but her defensive play was highlighted by her steals.

With 10 in the game, Hidalgo set an NCAA tournament record with 26 in three games so far.

Meanwhile, the two number one seeds playing on Friday stepped toward their respective regional finals with victories as UConn downed North Carolina 63-42 and UCLA was an 80-56 winner over Minnesota.