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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:
Trent Meacham was holding out hope for an Illinois-North Carolina matchup in Greenville, S.C., the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Centennial grad and former Illinois guard probably wasn’t the only one looking for these Illini to get their chance to provide some tournament redemption against the Tar Heels.
The non-UNC crowd at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, though, was rallying around VCU in the first round. Illinois fans included. The Rams rallied from a 19-point deficit and secured another game in Greenville with an overtime victory against the Tar Heels.
Only to get beat by 21 by Illinois.
“I do think VCU might be a good kind of prelude to what Houston is going to present,” Meacham said during his appearance on Monday Morning Quarterback with Brian Barnhart and Loren Tate. “We saw them get after us defensively and cause some havoc and some turnovers and their quickness give us some issues for a period in the first half.
“But we were able to establish our size, our rebounding, our interior presence and then have a guy like (Andrej) Stojakovic — who’s been up and down this year — really give us something that we need. That’s someone that’s able to break down the defense, get to the basket, finish and be explosive around the rim.”
Illinois’ size advantage as the biggest team in the country proved to be too much for VCU at both ends of the court. It’s something the Illini will have to leverage defensively moving forward in Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup with Houston.
“Against VCU, I look at the lineups out there, and we were probably slower at every position,” Meacham said. “But when we use our length, our size and limit them to one possession … we should be a good defensive team. Houston is going to expose some of our weaknesses, maybe, but I think if we stay together on that end of the floor and keep them out of the paint we give ourselves a chance.”
