Poised, tenacious, sharp. VCU could keep up in the first ten minutes, but UNC went on a run to create an 11-point lead going into halftime. The break came at the perfect time for the struggling Rams. Rest, regroup, come back – that was the plan. But it didn’t work. At all.
It was North Carolina who returned from the locker room swinging. The Tar Heels opened the second half on a 9–2 run, stretching the lead
to 56–37 with 13:52 remaining. A 19-point cushion. At that moment, it felt over.
Historic rally
But no lead is safe in March, and the Madness doesn’t follow a script. And despite the situation not looking favorable for the Rams, the ball game wasn’t over. North Carolina still held a double-digit lead with six minutes left, but then the Rams rose into one of the greatest comebacks in tournament history.
Possession by possession, VCU started getting closer. A stop here, a bucket there. With three minutes left, it was a two-point game. With 11 seconds remaining, the Rams tied it at 75—their defense forced a turnover with 2.6 seconds to go as the Tar Heels tried to win the game.
VCU took a time-out and had an opportunity to end it in regulation, but Carolina’s guard Seth Trimble intercepted the inbound pass and surged down the court – he released an open triple but couldn’t capitalize on the mistake as his shot was off the mark. Overtime.
Neither team could find the bottom of the net for nearly three minutes into the extra period. VCU ended the drought first, but North Carolina responded with three straight points to go up by one. Then, it was Terrence Hill time. With the game down to the wire, his team needing a bucket, shot clock expiring, and the nation watching, Hill drilled a game-winning step-back three-point jumper to put VCU up front 80-78. Ball game. The March tales could hardly get any better.
Cinderella in the making
North Carolina got a chance to respond, and center Henri Veesaar earned a trip to the charity strip with 3.8 seconds left – but he missed the first shot, and when forced to try to throw the ball off the rim, the ball hit the backboard, resulting in a violation. VCU then sank two free throws to ice the game 82-78.
“This game was the perfect microcosm of who this group has been,” VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. said. “They’ve been as resilient as any group I’ve ever been around. We’ve done it all year.”
And just like that, another Cinderella arrived. The Rams’ win marks the largest comeback in the history of the first round of March Madness. While Tar Heels fans’ hearts bleed with blue blood as North Carolina endures the heartbreaking loss, VCU keeps dancing.
Hill wasn’t feeling like himself in the first half, but when the sides flipped, he became unstoppable. Despite coming off the bench, he finished with 34 points, scoring 23 in the second half. He was 7-for-10 from beyond the arc.
“I know my team needs me down the stretch,” Hill said. “Going into the second half, I wanted to be as aggressive as possible. When the plays were there for me to make them, I was going to make them. And if my teammates were open, I was going to hit them.”
VCU entered the game as an underdog, but the Rams are no strangers to the big dance. The school has been a regular participant since the mid-2000s, and has already experienced one magical run. In 2011, the Rams started the tournament as a No. 11 seed, but won five straight games – knocking off USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas – to advance all the way to the Final Four, where they fell to Butler.
This run is widely considered one of the greatest underdog stories in NCAA history. Can VCU do it again? They will square off against No. 3 Illinois on Saturday, striving to keep their season alive.
