Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game between No. 9 Iowa and No. 2 Illinois featured a bizarre 11-minute delay at the Toyota Center in Houston. The horn wouldn’t stop going off as Iowa led Illinois 22-20 with 7:43 remaining in the first half.
In what would usually be a frustrating delay for fans, the great Kevin Harlan did his best to make the TBS broadcast entertaining alongside Robbie Hummel and Stan Van Gundy.
“We’ve got a horn issue,” Harlan explained to viewers. “And there’s nothing more painful than that!”
“Surely there’s a way to unplug this. Surely there’s a horn expert somewhere in this building!” Harlan said.
As the TBS broadcast showed a baby covering its ears, Harlan provided commentary with the same intensity he would for a big moment in a game: “That’s right! Cover your ears! Hide your eyes! The horn will not shut off!”
Kevin Harlan: “Surely there’s a way to unplug this. Surely there’s a horn expert somewhere in this building… That’s right! Cover your ears! Hide your eyes! The horn will not shut off!” 🏀🎙️📢🔊 #MarchMadness #NCAATournament pic.twitter.com/XrFt8ZAK5Q
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2026
TBS reporter Lauren Shehadi offered more details on the situation as the delay continued.
“The horn is part of the shot-clock system, of course,” Shehadi said. “They just unplugged it, I’m told. And I asked how long it will take. And they kind of laughed. They said, ‘It should be a few minutes, but we’re not sure. This has never happened before.'”
“Wait a minute? They unplugged the horn thing?” Harlan responded.
“Yes,” Shehadi said.
“Well, it didn’t work,” Hummel noted.
“That’s what they said,” Shehadi replied. “Unplugged it to start again.”
“Now, the fans are getting restless. Yeah, this is not good,” Harlan said. “How in the world if you unplug it does it still go?”
Lauren Shehadi reported on was going on with the horn delay before it came to an end.
“The horn is part of the shot-clock system, of course. They just unplugged it, I’m told… This has never happened before.”
Harlan: “How in the world if you unplug it does it still go?” https://t.co/v4vODd63uu pic.twitter.com/ZVmydTDFaQ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2026
Finally, the loud horn sound ended.
“It stopped!” Harlan exclaimed. “They’re on their feet!”
Unfortunately, that came with the videoboard going out, but the Iowa and Illinois were able to resume Elite Eight action.
Kevin Harlan: “It stopped! They’re on their feet!”
Robbie Hummel: “Looks like the scoreboard is out now. But we can play without that.”
Stan Van Gundy: “We don’t need that.” 🏀🎙️ #NCAATournament #MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/y7AUArdBEL https://t.co/v4vODd63uu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2026
Harlan can make anything seem thrilling with his play-by-play commentary; he frequently even does so with ad reads. And he certainly came through with his commentary during this NCAA Tournament horn delay.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.