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Illinois-Indiana Elite 8 game interrupted by horn malfunction

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Mar 28, 2026 7:12 PM ET

Saturday’s Elite Eight game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Illinois Fighting Illini was delayed for 11 minutes by an unusual situation.

Teams had to pause playing with 7:43 to go in the first half because the horn at Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. malfunctioned and would not stop.

Play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan begged for a horn expert as the sound went on and fans covered their ears.

"Surely there's a way to unplug this — surely there's a horn expert somewhere in this building!"

Kevin Harlan on the call as an issue with the horn gets worked on. pic.twitter.com/dnI0W9HOWT
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 28, 2026

The situation went on long enough that players were eventually allowed to get some shots up to stay warm while the situation was addressed.

The horn just turned off, as did the scoreboard. Looks like they’ve reset the system? Here’s a video of the teams getting shots up with the horn still sounding. Game is about to resume with the main scoreboard turned off. #Illini pic.twitter.com/sBQo5bMBxf
— Joey Wright (@JoeyWright2000) March 28, 2026

Remarkably, an identical incident happened a month ago when the Detroit Pistons hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers. The arena staff in Houston wound up doing precisely what the people in Detroit did: they shut off the jumbotron to get the horn to stop and wound up using a manual horn. Perhaps the Toyota Center staff saw what happened in Detroit and took notes.

The delay lasted 11 minutes before play ultimately resumed. Things could have been worse, but plenty of people got to experience something they had probably never seen at a basketball game before.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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