The Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team remains one of seven Big Ten teams to advance to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament, defeating the Penn Quakers 105-70 on Thursday night in Greenville, South Carolina.
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The Illini (25-8) almost led all the way against a Quaker team (18-12) that was reshaped by coach Fran McCaffery after a successful 15-year stint with the Iowa Hawkeyes. But the first round belonged to Illinois, led by forward David Mirković’s 29 points, 17 rebounds and three assists in one of, if not the best games of his college career.
“David had a historic night setting an Illinois rebounding record in the NCAA Tournament and became the second Illini to score 20+ points and 15+ rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game,” wrote the Illinois men’s basketball “X” account.
Illinois led by as many as 40, 102-62, with just over two minutes left after putting up a suffocating charge of high-octane offense and not letting the Quakers get comfortable from the perimeter after finding success early in the first half.
Overall, coach Brad Underwood was pleased with his team, one that, in his words, lacked “meanness” following a 91-88 overtime loss in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals to the Wisconsin Badgers last Friday in Chicago.
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More specifically, Underwood referred to center Tomislav Ivišić, who finished the game with 12 points and was a great physical presence on the offensive side of the ball.
FURTHER: March Madness 2026: How many NCAA tournament brackets are still perfect?
“Tomi can score down there,” Underwood told reporters. “It’s something we do, we don’t do it often, but we do it when we feel like we have matchup opportunities… What he brings to our team is more than just a stat sheet.”
Attention will now quickly turn to a Saturday matchup with the VCU Rams (28-7), who overcame a 19-point first-round deficit as a No. 11 seed against the No. 6 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (24-9) in an 82-78 overtime appetizer in Greenville on Thursday night.
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FURTHER: March Madness All-Time Chart by Seed
Saturday’s kickoff is scheduled for 7:50 p.m. ET on CBS.