Illinois basketball set for intriguing matchup in first round of NCAA Tournament

Illinois basketball is going dancing with its first round game coming this Thursday, March 19th. The Illini, unfortunately, dropped a seed-line after a subpar last few weeks of the season. After seeming like a surefire bet for the 2-seed that plays in St. Louis, Illinois dropped to a three-seed that has to play in Greenville, South Carolina. The Illini will play on Thursday vs the Penn Quakers. The Quakers finished third in the Ivy League however, made a major run in the Ivy League Tournament to gain an automatic bid.

Penn is led by former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery.

About the Opponent

Penn was ranked 148 in the NET rankings. They were 0-6 in games in the first two quadrants with losses to Yale and Villanova. They also lost to Rutgers, a team that Illinois dominated, and the Providence Friars. The Quakers required two overtime wins to get into March Madness. On KenPom, Penn is ranked 150th behind teams like Penn State, Rutgers, and Maryland.

Penn is led by former top recruit TJ Power, who dropped 44 points and 14 rebounds en route to an Ivy League Tournament championship. Penn is not a great rebounding team, so Illinois basketball should absolutely get to the Quakers in that regard. Hopefully, the frontcourt of David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic can find their rhythm behind the arc.

Should Illinois get past Penn, they await the winner of VCU and North Carolina.

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