David Mirkovic gives star performance in Round of 64 win

David Mirkovic had an electric performance in his first-ever NCAA tournament game. Mirkovic dropped 29 points and 17 rebounds en route to a 105-70 win over the Penn Quakers. The freshman forward simply looked like the best player on the court and brought intensity to offset a nervous start from the Illini. David is becoming a fan-favorite amongst the Illini fanbase because of how hard he plays, how skilled he is, and how fun a personality he is off the court. After the game, Mirkovic told the media, “I just crashed the board, trying to bring that physicality. Balls on offensive glass were just like magnets to me, because I was crashing.”

The performance by Davis Mirkovic was certainly historic. His 29 points is the fourth most ever by an Illinois basketball player in the NCAA tournament. His 17 rebounds were the most amount of rebounds that an Illinois player has ever grabbed in an NCAA tournament game. With 8 offensive rebounds,  David Mirkovic was exactly what Illinois needed to win.

A team of freshmen phenoms

Mirkovic was helped by his freshman teammate Keaton Wagler on Thursday night. Wagler dropped 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. Because Wagler has been so good, Mirkovic has been somewhat underrated. However, on Thursday night, there was no doubt who the best player on the cournt was.

The Illini will play the VCU Rams in their round of 32 game. If David Mirkovic can continue to play as well as he has been, the Illini will be a very tough out in the NCAA Tournament.

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