No. 11 VCU rallies to beat No. 6 North Carolina in First Round Upset
VCU Rams forward Michael Belle (8) celebrates as the game ends Thursday, March 19, 2026, after the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament first round game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. VCU Rams won 82-78 in OT. | Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images GREENVILLE, S.
C. — With 15 minutes left in the second half of the North Carolina-VCU first-round NCAA Tournament game, Seth Trimble stole the ball from Terrence Hill Jr. and sped down the court for a fast-break layup, giving the Tar Heels a 56-37 lead.
That had been the story of the game up until that point. You can’t let the ‘Heels run on you, and VCU’s transition defense was nowhere to be found. At one point in the second half, UNC had 21 combined fast-break and off-turnover points, while VCU had zero.
It wasn’t necessarily that the Rams were throwing the ball away, but (aside from Lazar Djokovic post-ups) they were having a brutal time finishing at the rim around the monstrous Henri Veesar (who finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists). “We missed 10 layups in the first half,” VCU head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said in the postgame presser following VCU’s 82-78 win over North Carolina.
“People say transition defense, but it starts with our offense. When we were driving, missing layups, crashing the glass, and missing put-back layups, then they were able to run right past us. ” The key was to finish more layups on the offensive end.
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