For Penn men’s basketball, the reward for winning the biggest game of the season is the chance to play a bigger one.
On Thursday, the Quakers (18-11, 9-5 Ivy) will travel to Greenville, South Carolina to face off with Illinois Fighting Illini (24-8, 15-5 Big Ten) in the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2018. After winning the Ivy League championship on Sunday behind a 44-point performance from junior forward TJ Power, the 14-seed Red and Blue in the South region bracket now turns the page to their toughest opponent yet: three-seed Illinois who went 24-8 in the regular season and finished fourth in the Big Ten.
“The one thing they’ll find out is that things are different [in the tournament],” coach Fran McCaffery said. “The media coverage, the crowds, the crowds at practice, the overall scrutiny. And that’s what you play for. You want to be in that limelight. Because if you’re not playing, you’re watching.”
Containing the Illini will be a tall task for the Quakers. Coach Brad Underwood’s group ranks second in the nation in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency, wearing down opposing defenses with a rare combination of size and shooting.
Illinois sports one of the tallest lineups in the nation with an average height of roughly 78 inches, including twins center Tomislav and forward/center Zvonimir Ivisic, who stand 7-foot-1 and 7-foot-2, respectively. Guard Kylan Boswell, who is 6-foot-2, is the only starter listed below 6-foot-6.
Finding a weak shooter in Illinois’ lineup is even more difficult. All eight of the Illini’s typical rotation players (those who play more than seven minutes per game) shoot better than 30% from three on more than 2.5 attempts per game each.
“They have talent everywhere,” Power said. “Individually, if you look on paper, you might not favor us or our matchups defensively. But if we can be more connected, if we can be on the same page, we can [succeed].”
“They’re big guys — we have to be super physical with them,” sophomore guard AJ Levine said. “But then it also takes an increase in intensity as the game goes on, understanding personnel, understanding the dudes that are hot and the flow of the game.”
RELATED:
Next stop March Madness: Penn men's basketball upsets reigning champion Yale in Ivy Madness final
Penn men's basketball to play Illinois in first round of NCAA tournament
Carnathan | How Penn men's basketball claimed the Ivy League crown
The Illini are particularly effective out of the pick-and-roll, and that starts with guard Keaton Wagler, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a projected NBA lottery pick. Wagler stands 6-foot-6 and shoots 40.2% from three, making him a threat when he shoots, drives, or passes.
“I’m just excited for the opportunity, to be honest with you,” Levine said. “Being able to play against a dude that’s going to the NBA one day … I’ve always wanted to have a chance to prove myself as an elite defender, so I’m going to go out there and just play my butt off and see what happens.”
When Wagler does facilitate, Illinois has the shooters to finish. Notably, both Ivisic twins shoot more three-pointers than two-pointers, adding another wrinkle to Penn’s guarding approach.
“It starts with Wagler, but he’s not the only one,” McCaffery said. “They got a lot of different guys that can create and multiple people that make threes, so that makes them really hard to guard.”
“I have so much confidence in this coaching staff, and they have never once put together a scouting report or a gameplan that I didn’t trust,” junior forward Augustus Gerhart said. “I’m just gonna do what coach tells me.”
“At the end of the day, it’s just basketball. We’ve been doing it our whole lives,” Gerhart added. “It’s just another game. The court’s still 94 feet, the rims are still 10 feet high. We’re just gonna go out there and compete at a high level. … I like our odds against everybody.”
Illinois is among the best programs in the nation at crashing the glass. The Fighting Illini rank in the top 20 in NCAA Division I in both offensive and defensive rebounds per game, making them the third-best rebounding team in college basketball currently.
This too is in large part due to their size. Their leading rebounder is 6-foot-9 forward David Mirkovic, who averages 7.8 rebounds a game. Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, both over seven feet tall, have grabbed 5.5 and 4.8 boards per game this season, respectively.
“It’s got to be all five guys. It can’t be one guy boxing out,” Power said. “I think a lot of times teams have bigs that crash hard, it’s our responsibility to kind of get them out of that area, get them out of the paint, and our guards have to do a great job crashing down and getting the ball.”
Power is Penn’s leading rebounder, averaging 7.9 boards per game. Although partly overshadowed by his scoring during the Ivy League tournament, the 6-foot-9 forward’s ability to crash the glass was on full display in matchups against Harvard and Yale. Power grabbed 26 rebounds across the two games that sent the Quakers to the NCAA tournament.
Gerhart, Penn’s starting center, is not only the Quakers’ best offensive rebounders, but also one of the best offensive rebounders in the Ivy League. With 65 offensive boards on the season, Gerhart tied for second in the Ancient Eight.
“Just going to keep being relentless on the glass. I think it’s really hard to box somebody out for 40 minutes a game, especially when they’re going to the glass every possession.” Gerhart said. “I know the reverse of that is [that] it is hard to box somebody out. I think I’m willing to do that, because I know what it’s like to be on the flip side of having to go for a relentless pursuit of the ball.”
Defensively, Illinois often deploys drop coverage — they defend drives by protecting the rim and forcing opponents into mid-range jump-shots. But Penn has the personnel to counter, with Power and senior guard/forward Michael Zanoni excelling in the mid-range.
“We’ve played a lot of drop coverage this year, and we’ve done a pretty good job of exposing it,” Levine said. “The coaches have prepared me throughout the season, getting better at reading what to do out of ball screens and understanding where help is and who the open guy is.”
Levine has taken major steps forward as a slasher this season — look no further than his game-winning layup against Harvard. His ability to penetrate will be crucial to Penn’s offensive production. Additionally, senior guard/forward Ethan Roberts’ three-level skillset is an ideal remedy to Illinois’ approach, but it is still unknown whether he will suit up Thursday night.
The emotions are still running high following the euphoria of winning an Ivy League championship. The positive energy was contagious among the squad.
“It feels awesome,” Gerhart said. “Gosh, you just ruminate in it for a little bit, and you expect it to get less cool and it doesn’t get less cool. It gets cooler! It gets cooler, the more you think about it.”
“It’s fun, I’ve never been on a championship team before, and I literally have not stopped smiling since that game ended,” Levine said, sharing a similar sentiment. “It’s been literally the best hours of my life. I’m just extremely excited for the opportunity to go play in March Madness, a dream come true."
With the Quakers taking on the Fighting Illini on Thursday, the group has a quick turnaround. But the Red and Blue hope to make some noise in the NCAA tournament.
“I think it’s just: go in and try and make some history. You just go in with as much confidence and excitement for the opportunity as possible, and you go see what you can do,” Levine said. “You have nothing to lose. … We go out there, we just play our best, we be us, and we have a good time. We’re in March Madness. It’s a fun opportunity.”
On Thursday, the newly crowned Ivy League champions will tip off their first-round matchup against Illinois at 9:15 p.m. in the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
