I really can't handle the ball

Chapter 7 Blooming in full bloom, securing the victory
As soon as the referee blew the timeout whistle, Wade couldn't wait to come to Li Xuan and gave him a big hug.

"Li, you played so well, the coach should have put you on the court sooner!"

Wade is so excited that the team has gone from being behind by double digits to leading by a large margin!

He thought he would repeat the same mistakes and stop the first round of the NCAA tournament for two consecutive years, which will undoubtedly cause a serious psychological blow to him.

But he didn't expect his little-known roommate to stand up at the critical moment and save himself and the team.

"Dwyane, don't be too happy, the game is not over yet? Everything can happen."

"Also, I've been hugging you for so long, can you let me go first, I don't like men."

Li Xuan was also very happy in his heart, and responded jokingly.

Wade let go of Li Xuan in a hurry, not forgetting to hammer him on the chest, and said with a smile: "I'm a man with a family, how could I like a man!"

Li Xuan looked at Wade's bulging cheeks when he spoke, and wanted to pinch them with his hands to experience what it felt like.

So, while Wade was not paying attention, the sneak attack was successful.

"Hey! Li, stop pinching, you're going to pinch my cheeks!"

Li Xuan smiled and said nothing, as if if I don't pinch, your cheeks will become smaller in the future?
"Li, reciprocity, let me pinch it."

Seeing Wade's big hand stretched out, Li Xuan became terrified, quickly dodged, and said with an excuse: "Let's go! The coach is still waiting for the two of us to pass."

"Li, you are so mean, I will pinch it back sooner or later."

The two returned to the bench while talking and laughing.

University of Illinois bench, head coach Webb is racing against time to arrange tactics.

"Deron! You have to stay close to the opponent's No. 13 player at all times, and don't give him the chance to shoot easily. If he encounters a screen, the others must make up the defense in time. You must restrain that guy for me!"

"Right now, Marquette University's outside defense is extremely strong and they cannot attack by force. Their inside line is relatively weak. Change their offensive strategy and attack the inside line strongly. Do you understand?"

The University of Illinois players responded loudly: "Got it, Coach!"

The timeout ends and players from both sides return to the field.

Marquette University made personnel adjustments and sent Novak to the field to increase offensive firepower.

The University of Illinois' offense in this round completely followed the head coach's tactical arrangement, hoisting the ball into the interior and letting Cook forcefully play the interior.

After receiving the ball, Cook played Maynard with his back and made a few hard shots to the basket, then turned Maynard away and scored a layup, recovering 2 points.

Li Xuan patted Maynard on the shoulder and said encouragingly: "Don't worry, we are still ahead, and teammates will come to help you double-team and assist defense in time."

Maynard nodded, regained his energy, and ran to the baseline to serve.

Li Xuan didn't intend to catch the ball, and ran forward quickly. As soon as he ran across the center line, he saw Delong running up immediately, closely following him.

He saw Illinois' defensive strategy and didn't worry too much about it.

He is not the only scoring point in the team, he understands his position in this game, at best he can be regarded as a surprise player.

The team's strongest scorer is Wade, and it's his turn to perform next.

Li Xuan attracted most of the defensive attention of the University of Illinois, took the defensive players away as much as possible, and created the best breakthrough space for Wade.

Wade lived up to Li Xuan's good intentions, started quickly, took the fastest first step, passed Hyde, broke into the inside lane, beat Cook with a small hit and scored a layup, scoring 2 points.

In the next round of offense, the University of Illinois did not change its strategy and continued to play hard inside.

Seeing this situation, Marquette University had already made arrangements, and Li Xuan retreated quickly, and realized the double-teaming of Cook when he was not paying attention.

Faced with two double teams, Cook's vision was blocked, and he was worried that passing the ball would cause a mistake, so he was forced to throw the ball towards the basket, praying that his teammates could grab the offensive rebound.

Novak stuck Augustine, Wade rushed inside and easily took the rebound, turned around and rushed towards the frontcourt.

During the retreat process, Delong kept his mission in mind, and did not intercept Wade when he saw Wade rushing up, but followed Li Xuan closely.

Wade was also polite, and directly accelerated and rushed into the three-point line, heading towards the basket.

At this time, there was no one under the basket, and the two inside players of the University of Illinois had not had time to retreat back.

Hyde, who was chasing and defending, couldn't keep up with Wade's speed, so he could only watch Wade soar into the air and dunk the ball into the basket with one hand.

University of Illinois head coach Webb, who was standing on the sidelines, stomped his feet angrily, and shouted loudly: "Defense! Give me your fucking energy and speed up the defense!"

Offensive and defensive transition, University of Illinois offense.

This time, Cook quickly divided the ball before being double-teamed, and then after many passes, Hyde made a stop jumper and recovered 2 points.

Marquette University attacked, Li Xuan stayed near the free throw line for a while, and then pretended to make an empty cut inside, but actually ran back directly.

Seeing Li Xuan's superb off-the-ball running, Delong felt bad in his heart, and quickly turned around to chase after him.

Bang!
He didn't expect to turn around and bump into Novak who moved here at some time and had already made an off-ball screen. He knew in his heart that this defense failed.

As soon as Li Xuan ran to a 45° angle outside the right three-point line, he received a pass from Wade. Seeing that there was no defender in front of him, he adjusted and shot a three-pointer.

Swish!Hollow into the net!

59: 48!

Looking back, the University of Illinois' offense, after patient conduction, pulled Marquette's defense and presented an excellent opportunity to open.

The unguarded Powell didn't seize this opportunity and missed a three-pointer.

The basketball hit the front of the rim and bounced near the free throw line and was grabbed by Wade. Then he quickly turned around and rushed towards the frontcourt.

When Wade rushed near the free throw line, he saw that three people from the University of Illinois had already retreated to the inside. They did not make a strong attack and distributed the ball.

Li Xuan, who was on the move, stopped suddenly after receiving the ball, and then made a shooting action.

Seeing this situation, Delong, who came chasing from behind, didn't have too much time to think about it, and directly swooped in from the side to interfere.

When he was flying in the air, seeing that Li Xuan hadn't made a shot for a long time, he knew he had been cheated, and it was too late to change his posture.

Seeing De Xiaopang being shaken up, Li Xuan instinctively leaned to one side, made physical contact with Delong who was flying in the air, and threw the ball.

"Beep!"

With the whistle of the referee, the basketball flying in the air crashed into the net.

3+1 is done!

I don't know if it was intentional, but the on-site cameraman pointed the camera at Deron and gave him a close-up of his face.

Deron now wanted to die, he didn't expect to make such a low-level mistake, he covered his face and left the camera area.

Looking at the close-up of Deron's face on the big screen, the two commentators in the commentary booth couldn't help but tease Deron.

"Poor Deron, so far in the second half, he hasn't scored or assisted. He has no sense of presence at all. It's as if he was invisible at the critical moment."

"It's not that Delong is too bad, but that Li completely suppressed him. In front of Li, his most proud physical talent is useless!"

"Lee has scored three consecutive three-pointers against Deron. I don't know how Deron feels at this time."

"Hahaha, he must be feeling bad, so let's not add fuel to the fire."

…………

Li Xuan stood at the free throw line, received a pass from the referee, and made an extra penalty.

63: 48!

In the next few rounds, the University of Illinois's offense still couldn't start, and the outside shooting rate was extremely low, so they could only rely on hitting the inside to make fouls and free throws.

On the other hand, the Marquette University players became more confident as they played. As long as there is an opportunity to shoot without hesitation, every player on the court will score.

When the head coach of the University of Illinois Webb saw Novak hit a three-pointer again, he shook his head expressionlessly, and was forced to request a timeout again to call the players back to stabilize their mentality.

(End of this chapter)