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.
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.
<img src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/quebec-city-during-a-cold-winter-day.jpg?id=55732989&width=980"/><br/><br/><p>Quebecers, grab your warmest coats — it's outrageously cold outside! </p><p>According to figures from <a href="https://www.wx-now.com/Extremes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WX-Now,</a> a site that tracks the world's most extreme weather, five spots in Quebec were competing with some of the coldest places on Earth as of Tuesday morning.</p><p>With Arctic air blanketing the province on January 21, temperatures have plummeted to shocking lows. Here's a closer look at these freezing spots.</p><h3>Chamouchouane, Quebec</h3><br/><p>Chamouchouane takes the cake (or popsicle) for the world's third-coldest place today, with temperatures dropping to a bone-chilling -40 C. For context, that's colder than Siberia. With no mercy from icy winds, frostbite can happen in just minutes.</p><h3>Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec</h3><br/><p>Not far behind, Rouyn-Noranda is in a deep freeze with temperatures hitting -38 C. Calm winds might make it feel slightly less brutal, but don't let that fool you — it's dangerously cold out there.</p><h3>Chapais, Quebec</h3><br/><p>In Chapais, residents face -37 C with scattered clouds and brisk winds adding to the chill. This level of cold makes staying outside for too long seriously risky.</p><h3>Bonnard 1</h3><br/><p>This part of the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean area matches Chapais with equally icy temperatures of -37 C.</p><h3>Parent, Quebec</h3><br/><p>Parent rounds out the list, with the thermometer also reading -37. Fortunately, conditions have been listed as "calm."</p><p>Here's how the global top 10 rounded out on Tuesday morning, with the vast majority of cold spots being found throughout Canada:</p><ol> <li>Alykel, Russia: -43 C</li><li>Eureka, Canada: -40 C</li><li>Chamouchouane, Quebec, Canada: -40 C</li><li>Rankin Inlet, Canada: -39 C</li><li>Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada: -38 C</li><li>Chapais, Quebec, Canada: -37 C</li><li>Parent, Quebec, Canada: -37 C</li><li>Bonnard 1, Quebec, Canada: -37 C</li><li>Timmins, Ontario, Canada: -37 C</li><li>Taloyoak, Canada: -39 C</li></ol><h2>Why is it so cold?</h2><p>While Quebec is no stranger to a brutally cold winter, these frigid temperatures result from arctic air masses sweeping across Canada. The polar vortex tightened its icy grip over the weekend, and Quebec is in the direct path of this frosty air invasion.</p><p>Quebecers could soon be in for a well-deserved warm spell, though.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/quebec-winter-forecast-2025" target="_self">The Weather Network's mid-winter report card</a>, February is expected to bring a shift in the weather, with milder temperatures making an appearance during the second and third weeks of the month.</p><p><em>Love this? Check out our <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/notices/" target="_blank">MTL Blog noticeboard</a> for details on jobs, benefits, travel info and more!</em></p><p><em>AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of MTL Blog's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/editorial-standards" target="_blank">Editorial Standards page</a>.</em></p>
