Brad Underwood has been the head coach of the Illinois Fighting Illini for nearly a decade. Over his nine-year tenure in Champaign, he has done everything from winning the Big Ten regular-season title to securing the conference tournament title to making a run to the Elite Eight.
What he has not done is taken the Illini to the Final Four or the National Championship.
This March, with a truly high-caliber team leading the charge, Underwood has an opportunity to do just that, and maybe even more. The best news? It sounds like he knows exactly what his team needs to do to accomplish those goals.
"It'd be nice to shoot the ball a little better... We haven't been great the last couple games from three," Underwood said. "I think defensive rebounding. I think it's one possession. I don't think it's a lot. I think we're doing a lot of things really well. I was frustrated with our rebounding the last couple games."
Brad Underwood emphasizes 3-point shots and defensive boards
The Illini have, what should be, a relatively easy first-round matchup against the Pennsylvania Quakers, a 14-seed team that Illinois is favored to defeat by double digits.
However, as the Fighting Illini progress through the tournament, the two tenets that Underwood highlighted, defensive rebounds and three-point shooting, are going to be critical to Illinois making a run through the Big Dance.
Also read: Familiar Keaton Wagler weakness Brad Underwood must hide in the NCAA Tournament
When Illinois was upset (once again) by the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Tournament, the Illini shot just 29 percent from beyond the arc. Nothing terrabile, but also nothing worthy of a deep NCAA Tournament run.
The massive red flag? Illinois gave up 11 offensive rebounds to the Badgers. Just a few weeks earlier, it was a similar story when the Illini lost to the unranked UCLA Bruins.
Illinois shot 31 percent from beyond the arc and gave up a few critical offensive rebounds to the Bruins, who made the most of their second-chance opportunities.
The No. 3-seed Illini and the No. 14-seed Quakers are scheduled to tip off at 8:25 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 19, and the game will be broadcast on TNT, so fans can tune in to see if Underwood's players took his critiques to heart.