PITTSBURGH — Trailing by six in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday afternoon, Illinois guard Alfonso Plummer stole the ball from Houston‘s Jamal Shead and fed it forward to teammate RJ Melendez.
Sprinting out in front of the nearest defender, Melendez made the easy two-handed slam to cut Houston’s lead to just four with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the second half of No. 4 seed Illinois’ matchup against fifth-seeded Houston. The crowd roared at the bucket, coming to life as the Illini attempted to bounce back against the smothering, defensive-minded Cougars.
But as Melendez hung on the rim to slow his forward movement, a whistle blew, and the guard was assessed a technical foul by official Brian O’Connell for hanging on to the rim too long.
Just as it appeared the Illini would grab a little momentum, it was snatched away as Houston’s Jamal Shead hit the technical free…
