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Mar. 23—Brad Underwood left Chicago after the Big Ten tournament — following a rather brief stay — looking for his team to have some nastiness. A little grit. Some fight. For someone, anyone, to give a ... hoot about rebounding.
The Illinois coach got what he was looking for last week in Greenville, S.C., in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. Now it's on to Houston for the Sweet 16, Thursday's game against the hometown Cougars scheduled to tip off shortly after 9 p.m. Iowa and Nebraska play the first game.
David Mirkovic basically grabbed every available rebound during the Illini's first-round win against Penn. The combination of Kylan Boswell and Ben Humrichous locked up Quakers star TJ Power.
Then it was a team effort in the second round against VCU. Save for some Illinois turnovers that let the Rams get out in transition (their preference), the Illini locked up Phil Martelli Jr.'s squad in the half court. VCU shot 35/22/33 as a team, and its star guard Terrence Hill Jr. needed 16 shots to score 17 points.
"I think our defensive energy and focus and presence was just overwhelming throughout the game just making everything tough," Boswell said.
Enough nastiness for Underwood?
"I think they're just a little refocused on the importance of being that, and that's going to have to continue throughout," the Illinois coach said. (The Rams) play tough. I think when you get into the tournament you have to expect that. That's one of the things we've talked bout at various points throughout the season is not being tough. Those are things we've all addressed. (Saturday) we handled it in a very positive way without fouling."
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The Illinois coach got what he was looking for last week in Greenville, S.C., in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. Now it's on to Houston for the Sweet 16, Thursday's game against the hometown Cougars scheduled to tip off shortly after 9 p.m. Iowa and Nebraska play the first game.
David Mirkovic basically grabbed every available rebound during the Illini's first-round win against Penn. The combination of Kylan Boswell and Ben Humrichous locked up Quakers star TJ Power.
Then it was a team effort in the second round against VCU. Save for some Illinois turnovers that let the Rams get out in transition (their preference), the Illini locked up Phil Martelli Jr.'s squad in the half court. VCU shot 35/22/33 as a team, and its star guard Terrence Hill Jr. needed 16 shots to score 17 points.
"I think our defensive energy and focus and presence was just overwhelming throughout the game just making everything tough," Boswell said.
Enough nastiness for Underwood?
"I think they're just a little refocused on the importance of being that, and that's going to have to continue throughout," the Illinois coach said. (The Rams) play tough. I think when you get into the tournament you have to expect that. That's one of the things we've talked bout at various points throughout the season is not being tough. Those are things we've all addressed. (Saturday) we handled it in a very positive way without fouling."
Continue reading...
