Buzzer sounds nonstop for about 7 minutes, causing delay in Iowa-Illinois March Madness game

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A referee talks with the scorer's table during an official's timeout due to a broken shot clock horn during the first half of an Elite Eight game between Iowa and Illinois in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Illinois coach Brad Underwood listens to an official during a timeout to fix a broken horn during the first half of an Elite Eight game against Iowa in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) — A referee talks with the scorer's table during an official's timeout due to a broken shot clock horn during the first half of an Elite Eight game between Iowa and Illinois in the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Audio By Carbonatix

7:00 PM on Saturday, March 28

By KRISTIE RIEKEN

HOUSTON (AP) — A buzzer malfunction caused a delay — a very loud, very unpleasant delay — of about 10 minutes in the first half of the NCAA Tournament's South Region final between Iowa and Illinois on Saturday night.

When the buzzer sounded out of a media timeout with 7:43 left in the first half, it kept blaring uninterrupted for about seven minutes. Players stood on the court ready to play for a couple of minutes before both teams started to warm up as the horn 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.

Illinois won 71-59 to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2005.

“Nothing I can control. ... Just move on, move forward,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said of the buzzer issue. “It didn’t probably impact the fact that we gave up 16 (offensive) boards.”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness