RICHMOND, Va. — VCU did not have much time to celebrate the largest first-round comeback in NCAA history Thursday night. After defeating North Carolina to reach the round of 32, the Rams' attention has shifted to third-seeded Illinois.
The Rams are preparing to face an Illinois team that features the tallest roster in the country. The Illini's eight-man rotation ranges from 6-2 to 7-2.
Less than two hours after one of the biggest wins in program history, the team was already looking ahead, though the excitement of the victory lingered.
"I think I went to sleep about 2 a.m. My mom was talking my ear off, my dad was talking my ear off, how proud they are," said Terrence Hill Jr.
The focus now is on how to negate the size advantage of Illinois.
"You know, those guys crash, they don't miss a lot, but when they do, they're right there to go get it," said Coach Phil Martelli Jr. "So, you know, we have to rebound, you know, and again, to that size versus speed thing, like we have to be able to rebound and then hopefully we can get out and play in the open floor. But we have to rebound the ball, right? And we have to get that ball first because they are, they are flying in there."
"I mean, I feel like we're going against pretty big players this year," said Nyk Lewis. "Henri Veesaar, L'Etang from Dayton, so I just feel like the defensive scheme is probably gonna be about the same, you know, try to rebound, everybody has to get into rebound and just getting out and pushing the transition."
Illinois head coach Brad Underwood has some postseason experience against VCU. In 2014, Underwood was the head coach at Stephen F. Austin, who as a 12 seed upset the Rams in the first round of the NCAA tournament in San Diego.
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