(Photo credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images)

HOUSTON -- Bennett Stirtz scored a team-high 20 points, Tate Sage added 19 and ninth-seeded Iowa rallied from a first-half, double-digit deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Nebraska 77-71 on Thursday in the South Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Stirtz provided the Hawkeyes (24-12) with their first lead at 68-65 via a 3-pointer with 2:10 left. That ignited a decisive closing stretch from Iowa, which advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987 while dashing the Cornhuskers' bid for their first Elite Eight appearance.

Iowa will play the winner of No. 3 seed Illinois and No. 2 seed Houston on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. The Hawkeyes, who are seeking their first national title, haven't reached the Final Four since 1980.

Sage extended the Iowa lead to 71-65 with a 3-pointer at the 1:18 mark, and after Braden Frager sliced that deficit in half with a corner 3 after an offensive rebound, Alvaro Folgueiras completed a three-point play when he scored through a foul after a breakaway layup off an inbounds pass. Folgueiras pushed Iowa to a 74-68 lead with 56 seconds left and essentially sealed the victory.

Pryce Sandfort paced Nebraska (28-7) with 25 points, while Frager added 16. That duo combined to shoot 11 for 18 from behind the arc for the Cornhuskers, who missed 18 of 24 3-points in the second half after finishing 7 for 14 from deep before intermission.

Folgueiras tallied 16 points for Iowa while Cooper Koch chipped in 11 and three 3s. Stirtz totaled four assists.

Nebraska wasted little time seizing a double-digit lead, turning a 3-for-4 start from behind the arc and a three-point play from Rienk Mast into a 12-2 lead just over three minutes in.

After Stirtz engineered an Iowa rally with a three-point play and an assist on an Alvaro Folgueiras 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 16-14, Frager responded with a trio of 3s that rebuilt the Cornhuskers' advantage to 25-17. Nebraska reclaimed its double-digit lead after Sam Hoiberg made consecutive layups only for the Hawkeyes to fashion yet another comeback.

Stirtz followed a Folgueiras dunk with a 3-pointer and another assisted 3 that pulled the Hawkeyes to within 40-38. Jamarques Lawrence responded with six points for Nebraska, but the Hawkeyes beat the first-half buzzer with a Sage 3-pointer that sliced the margin to 46-43.

--MK Bower, Field Level Media