Illinois Hopes Playing From Behind Is A Distant Memory In NCAA Tournament

The Illinois Fighting Illini prided themselves in making three consecutive comebacks in the Big Ten tournament last week.

It was a great accomplishment but they have no intention of it happening again during the NCAA Tournament. They open in the first round Thursday against Morehead State in the East Regional in Omaha.

"We don't like to get down double-digits," Illini guard Marcus Domask said. "I just think if there's one thing about this team, we're going to keep fighting no matter how we start, no matter what the middle looks like, at the end we're going to fight."

The Illini rallied against Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin on consecutive days in Minneapolis. They hope it's unnecessary the next few weeks but at least they are prepared if they if needed. They want to be part of coach Brad Underwood's first team to make it past the opening weekend.

Morehead State is one of the sleepers of the tournament after winning the Ohio Valley Conference. They are led by conference player of the year Riley Minix, who averages 20.8 points and 9.8 rebounds.

The Illini are banking on their conference-tournament adversity to help handle the pressure. They also think their experience could be a difference-maker because they have several upperclassmen.

"It just shows how connected we are," forward Quincy Guerrier said. "Every game in March is going to be similar to what we've been facing in the tournament. We just got to stay together, connected. Everybody is old."

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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Illini Now. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com