Penn, with a dramatic run to the Ivy League tournament title, takes on recent NCAA tournament veteran Illinois in an opening round game on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina. While Penn (18-11) is making its first NCAA appearance since 2018, this is the sixth straight year for Illinois (24-8) under head coach Brad Underwood.
Penn first-year coach Fran McCaffery has now taken five teams to the NCAA tournament. The other teams were Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, Siena, and Iowa, where he was coaching last year.
The No. 3 seed in the four-team Ivy League Tournament, Penn recorded two overtime wins to advance to the NCAA Tournament. In the semifinals, Penn beat No. 2 seed Harvard 62-60 in overtime. The winning basket came on a driving layup by 6-foot sophomore AJ Levine with 6.1 seconds left in the extra period. Harvard then missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
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On Sunday, Penn scored an 88-84 overtime win over top-seeded Yale, which had been the Ivy League Tournament champion in four of the previous five seasons. TJ Power, a 6-foot-9 junior and First Team All-Ivy League selection, had the game of a lifetime with 44 points and 14 rebounds against Yale after totaling 16 points and 12 rebounds against Harvard.
Power, who spent a year each at Duke and Virginia before coming to Penn, is averaging 16.8 points and 7.9 rebounds.
Penn played both games without leading scorer Ethan Roberts (16.9 PPG), a 6-foot-5 senior who missed the Ivy League tournament with a concussion. McCaffery told the Daily Pennsylvanian that Roberts will be reevaluated to play on Thursday.
Illinois last played on Friday when the Fighting Illini were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Big 10 tournament during a 91-88 overtime loss to Wisconsin. Two freshmen, 6-foot-6 Keaton Wagler and 6-foot-9 David Mirkovic, each scored 19 points. Junior guard Andrej Stojakovic, a 6-foot-7 junior guard, added 17 points.
Wagler (17.9 PPG) was a First Team All-Big 10 selection and the Big 10 Freshman of the Year. He is expected to be an NBA lottery pick.
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Illinois vs. Penn Odds
As of this writing, Illinois is a 24.5-point college basketball betting favorite on BetMGM.
The Over/Under is 150.5 points.
Illinois vs. Penn On TV
Tipoff for Illinois vs. Penn is expected to be shortly after 9:25 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The game will be televised on TNT.
Illinois vs. Penn Prediction
It is a lot of points, but I like Illinois to cover. Penn will try to play a slowdown game, while Illinois will look to make this an up-tempo style. If Illinois can play a fast pace, the Fighting Illini will be difficult to contain.
A question is how Penn will fare against a major step-up in competition. The Quakers are 0-2 against teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The Quakers suffered a 77-60 defeat to Hofstra on Nov. 30 at the Palestra. In its next game, Penn lost to Villanova 93-60 at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Penn will have to deal with the literal twin towers of 7-foot-1 Tomislav Ivisic (10.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG) and 7-foot-2 Zvonimir Ivisic (7.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG). The junior twin brothers are from Croatia.
A key will be Penn’s ability to handle Illinois on the boards. Illinois averages 40.7 rebounds, while its opponents average just 31.7. Penn averages 36.4 rebounds and allows 36.1.
Illinois’ high-powered offense averages 84.3 while allowing 69.3 points. The Fighting Illini shoot .347 from three and allow teams to shoot .314. Illinois is a good foul shooting team at .789. Penn averages 76.1 points and allows 73.3. The Quakers shoot .386 from three and hold opponents to a .317 level. Penn shoots just .693 from the foul line.
