NCAA Tournament II: Delivering Blows

”Illinois is like a prizefighter - they stick and jab and then pound you to finish the deal”

-Bill Raftery on the TNT broadcast with 11:12 left in the second half last night.

I’m actually going to start this post-game fun-fest with a painful memory. Back on February 27, Michigan’s Morez Johnson set the tone of a game the Wolverines would control for most of the night by slamming into David Mirkovic on the first Michigan offensive possession of the game and drawing a foul. He was seeking contact - and Mirkovic got every bit of it. Afterwards, Brad Underwood said something to the effect that Morez “knocked David into next week” and there was a lesson to be learned.

Message sent and message received. In Illinois’ tonight’s opening round NCAA Tournament game against Penn, David Mirkovic was like a heat seeking bowling ball from the opening tip. Off the dribble, on cuts, on blockouts - he was delivering blows and obliterating Penn players everywhere on the floor. One might say he left them Quaking in their boots. After just one half of play, Mirkovic already had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds - on his way to a record setting 29 and 15. As Brad Underwood would say in his post game press conference: “David Mirkovic was the best player on the floor tonight”.

It was of little consequence that the Illini shot just 6-22 from the three point line and 2-5 from the free throw line in a clunky offensive first half. The 14 offensive rebounds and 16 second chance points told you all you needed to know about where this game was headed in the second 20 minutes.

While the body blows from Mirkovic continued, the Illini offense also started throwing haymakers - shooting 64% from the arc and splashing home nine three pointers. The second half was a clinic of offensive efficiency. In fact, it might well have been the best offensive half we’ve ever seen from an Illini team. We scored on 28 of 33 possessions and at one point late in the game were scoring at an almost unheard of 2.o points per possession. We still finished the half with a mindblowing 1.97 PPP. It all added up to a 65 point onslaught and a 105-70 final.

It was a full on Franconning. Penn wanted no part of the physical fight the Illini brought to floor. The Quakers were outrebounded 48-25, were outscored in the paint 44-24, and shot only two free throws the entire game. They just melted.

As a result, Illinois NCAA Tournament game records were falling almost as often as the three pointers were…

• Most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game by an Illini freshman: David Mirkovic with 29 points
• Most rebounds by any Illini player in an NCAA Tournament game: David Mirkovic with 17
• Most points scored by an Illinois team in an NCAA tournament game: 105

The Illini have been computer darlings all season - and this game was showed exactly why. This team might be prone to giving up the occasional late lead and we all know they are 0-4 in overtime, but they give absolutely no quarter to subpar teams. In 18 games against teams over #50 in KenPom, the Illini are 18-0 with an average victory scoring margin of 26.5. The line for tonight’s game? 25.5. As I mentioned in my pre-game article from yesterday - Vegas loves this Illinois team.

And yet, as fun as tonight was, it means nothing by the time the sun comes up tomorrow (or later today as it were). Illinois’ business trip here to South Carolina still has its most important agenda item left remaining. A Saturday night date with VCU beckons with the Sweet 16 on the line. That’s what we all came here for.

OTHER STUFF

+Let‘s just write these David Mirkovic numbers out in total one more time. 29 points/17 rebounds/3 assists. In his first NCAA Tournament game.

+Welcome back Tomislav Ivisic. After a nearly invisible first half (0 points/3 rebounds in 11 minutes), we saw some flashes of 2025 Tomi in the second half. Illinois made a concerted effort to give Tomi some paint touches - and he delivered. He scored all 12 of his points in the second half and finished the game with seven rebounds. He even a made three pointer! More of that Tomi please.

+Welcome back Keaton Wagler’s three point stroke. Wagler made four of his seven three point attempts - including two of the deep step back daggers he made famous in the Purdue game. I put out a triple double advisory with about 14 minutes to play when he was at 10 points/6 rebounds/6 assists, but that stalled out due to the blowout nature of the game. He still finished with 18 points/7 rebounds/7 assists. In his first NCAA Tournament game.

+In other news from Greenville - it was a GREAT day of basketball. A final possession thriller in the opener between TCU and Ohio State. Siena flirted with the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history until the final minute against Duke. Then VCU storms back from 19 down in the second half to force overtime and stun North Carolina. The building was 3/4 full of Carolina blue during that game, and they were completely gobsmacked. Just 10,000 or so Carolina fans standing in stunned silence with their mouths hung collectively open. I didn’t hate it.

+Finally, winning your opening round game on Thursday of the NCAA Tournament is just the best thing. Now we all get to kick back and enjoy a fully stress free Friday slate of games. The flip side of that? Sorry, Nick Boyd and Wisconsin. Greg Gard might actually need his Jake Davis wig to disguise himself around town in Madison.