Good Morning, Illini Nation: Rediscovering the appropriate nastiness
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.