Second comeback not to be as VCU falls to Illinois

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — This time, there was no magical comeback in the cards for VCU.

Less than 48 hours after staging a dramatic 19-point rally versus North Carolina, the Rams faced a similar situation Saturday, but fell to Illinois,76-55.

“The end is always hard, and you struggle to come up with what to say,” Rams coach Phil Martelli, Jr. said. “I told these guys in the locker room the two words that kept kind of bouncing around in my mind were pride and gratitude. All these guys took a chance. I got the job 51 weeks ago today and was selling everybody a vision, all of them, a vision of what could be. They all took that chance. They came along for the ride, and they brought us along for the ride. So my pride in them, my gratitude for them is through the roof.”

VCU caught a tough break in the opening seconds as Nyk Lewis went down with an injury. Jake Davis hit a three as Illinois led 9-2 at the first media timeout. Terrence Hill’s hot shooting carried over from the UNC game with a three, but Illinois used its size to build as much as a 12-point lead in the first half.

Brandon Jennings answered with a three for VCU and Tyrell Ward threw down a dunk that cut  the deficit to 20-13. After an Illini three, Hill scored on a fast-break layup. Ward followed with a tip-in as the deficit shrank to 23-17. A dunk by Evans continued the comeback and by the time Hill split the defense for a layup and Ward scored on a putback, the game was tied at 23.

Hill stayed hot with a three later in the contest to tie the game at 26. His fallaway jumper moments later gave VCU its first lead of the game. Andrej Stojakovic answered with a three-point play, and by the time he banked one off the glass, Illinois led 35-28 after a 7-0 run to end the half.

The run continued coming out of the locker room. Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic each hit threes as the score stood at 43-30. Jadrian Tracey ended the run with a pullup jumper, but Illinois continued to pull away on a dunk by Zvonimir Ivisic and a three for Kylan Boswell.  After a technical foul on VCU, Illinois led, 50-32.

Hill answered with a quick 5-0 run including a deep three. Wagler restored order with a steal and layup, and by the time Stojakovic dunked, Illinois was in firm control, leading 59-37. Tracey drilled a three to give the Rams a glimmer of hope, but this time, a comeback was not in the cards as they fell 76-55.

A HILL TOO STEEP: Hill put on another show for the crowd in Greenville with 17 points, but it was not enough to keep the Rams’ season from ending. Hill says that this season and basketball in general have taught him many lessons.

“I’ve always felt like I’ve always been a competitor, but when you get in those moments when you get tested, like the UNC game, we were down 19, you kind of just challenge yourself,” he said. “You think about all those moments you went through growing up about being down, any situation in life, and just finding that kind of joy and second gear, even when you’re down or things are not going your way. I think I kind of found that by myself, and I feel like I just proved myself right.”

THE RUN: Just like the UNC game, VCU made a run to get back in the contest in the first half. Martelli, Jr. broke down the run and why the Rams could not sustain it this time.

“The ball went in a couple times,” he said. “We were missing shots that we’ve made most of the year. We were able to get some stops. That was where our brief transition opportunities came. We needed that. We needed more of that. I thought in the first half, we guarded well enough to hold them to whatever it was, 35 points. The percentages from two weren’t where we would want them to be, but for the most part, we guarded them well enough. We turned them over a few times, so it was really that. We were able to get some stops, get out in transition, and the ball went in a couple times, like I said. Unfortunately, there were too many open shots. We turned some down in the second half. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers.”

“I said to the staff as we got the stats after the game, I can’t believe we only had 10 turnovers. It felt like we had 15 or 20 of them, just from kind of like game slippage, whatever it was. But no, that was the run, and again, I expected it from these guys all the time. They’re always going to fight back.”

CHASING GREATNESS: Even with the loss, Martelli is confident the Rams are building something special, and the results this year are only the beginning.

“I asked these guys to chase greatness, and they did,” he said. “(Getting) 28 wins is great. A regular season championship is great. A conference tournament championship is great. An NCAA Tournament win is great. That’s what they got. They got greatness. They created just incredible memories for each other, and every time they walk in that Siegel Center, they’re going to see those banners hanging up there, and that means something. The bond and the memories, and all those things they created for themselves, for the fans, for the community, all those things will always be there and no matter what, those can never be taken away from them.”

“I’m just proud of the way they took all that on and were able to get exactly what they deserved and get greatness. We want to be right back here next year and go even further.”

UP NEXT: Illinois (26-8) advances for the Sweet 16, and will play No. 2 seed Houston on Friday in the South Regional semifinals, while VCU finishes its campaign with a record of 28-8.