SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The No. 3-seeded Fighting Illini men's golf team is moving on to Round 4 of the NCAA Men's Golf Championship at the top of the team leaderboard. The Orange and Blue closed out Round 3 with yet another solid team performance, picking up Sunday right where they ended Round 2, to hold off hard charges by Pepperdine and Florida, as the field was pared down to the top 15 teams, and nine individuals, for tomorrow's stroke play finale at Grayhawk Golf Club's Raptor Course.

"I thought it was a solid day," head coach Mike Small said. "Yesterday, we had a little bit of a different edge to us coming out because we wanted to come back after an indifferent first round, with a little more assertiveness - a little more aggressiveness. Today, we came out with a good, solid look. Sometimes, you can lack a little after an effort like yesterday, and our guys didn't do that. They came out, played their game, and stood steadfast and played solid golf. The emotions were different at the beginning of the round, but the result was still the same. Very solid golf. I'm proud of the way they played."

Illinois followed Saturday's 273 (-7) with a 4-under 276 and holds a three-shot advantage over the second-place Waves (-3) and a five-shot edge on the Gators (-1) with a 36-hole team score of 834 (-6). The Illini's run of 11-under over the past two rounds is the lowest in consecutive rounds at the NCAA Championship since Oklahoma State shot a 274-274–548 (-12) in Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2021 event.  And with another cut to the top-eight on the horizon prior to the start of match play on Tuesday, the Illini's performance has all-but solidified their standing, 19 shots head of top-seeded Vanderbilt and No. 7 Florida State who sit in a tie for eighth.

Three Illini also sit inside the top 10 of the individual title race that will be determined Monday. The trio will be looking for the program's third NCAA individual championship under Small. Fifth-year seniors Adrien Dumont de Chassart (-4) and Tommy Kuhl (-2) are tied for fourth and tied for eighth, respectively, while sophomore Jackson Buchanan sits between them in a solo seventh at 3-under. Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman, who opened with a 64 (-6) continues to lead with a 201 (-9).

Illinois is the only program in the three-year run of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk to enter the fourth round of stroke play with three golfers inside the top 10. Since the 2000-01 season, Small's first at the helm of the Illini program, Illinois (Scott Langley, 2010; Thomas Pieters, 2012) and Oklahoma State (Matthew Wolff, 2019; Jonathan Moore, 2006) are the only programs to have produced multiple individual NCAA champions.

Kuhl led the way for the Illini in Round 3, carding a 67 (-3), the team's lowest individual round of the weekend. The Morton, Ill., native was 1-over after a bogey on six, but bounced back quickly with a birdie on No. 7 to make the turn at even-par. He then posted three birdies on the back nine – including back-to-back on Nos. 16 and 17 – to jump 11 spots up the leaderboard.

"That was strong, and it was important," added Small of Kuhl's sensational finish."We had a couple bogeys in there too and he held those guys up. He could have birdied the last hole too. Tommy's pretty good. He's really talented. When he has a clear head, and goes out and trusts himself, he's as good as anybody."

Buchanan also finished under par on the Day 3, posting his second straight round of 68 (-2) after an opening 71 on Friday. He tallied four birdies on the front nine, and added a fifth on No. 17, to give him 10 for the week, one behind Dumont de Chassart for the team lead.

"He's getting better," said Small of Buchanan who is playing in his first NCAA Championship event. "He's a cerebral, very smart young man. He combines a lot of athleticism with a lot of competitiveness, and that's a good recipe. Kid's get better at this time in life - 18-22 - in anything they do, this is when they start getting good at things. The one's that are good, really show that, and that' what he's doing."

Dumont de Chassart posted an even-par 70 and fellow Belgian Matthis Besard added a 71 to round out the scoring in the round for the Illini. Besard is tied for 44^th, while junior Piercen Hunt is 12-over in a tie for 106^th after his best round of the weekend (73) on Sunday.

Behind Illinois, Pepperdine and Florida, North Carolina (+1), Georgia Tech (+2), Stanford (+10), host Arizona State (+11), and FSU and Vandy (+13), begin inside Monday's cutline for match play.

Texas Tech and Ohio State finished in a tie for the 15th and final spot at +26 (866 total). They will compete in a five-player playoff on Monday morning beginning at 8 a.m. PT. In the team playoff between the Red Raiders and Buckeyes, an aggregate of the five scores will determine which team moves on to the fourth round of team play.

Round 4 tee times begin at 10 a.m. PT, with the Illini, Waves and Gators teeing off together beginning at 11:50 a.m. PT. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat, with GOLF Channel live coverage slated for 4-8 p.m. CT/2-6 p.m. PT.