GREENVILLE, S.C. — On the night Illinois lost to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament, coach Brad Underwood lamented that his team didn’t show the requisite toughness to advance beyond the quarterfinal.
The Illini weren’t nasty enough, didn’t give a s−−− enough, he said.
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He no longer had those complaints Saturday night after Illinois completed two blowout wins against Penn and VCU in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Whether it was their size advantage against the lower-seeded teams or Underwood’s challenge in the days after, the Illini, particularly their big men, showed the nastiness is still there.
“I think we’ve had them,” Underwood said. “I think they’re maybe just a little refocused on the importance of being that. And that’s going to have to continue throughout.”
The Illini have bigger challenges ahead against second-seeded Houston in the Sweet 16 in Houston on Thursday.
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They need to continue what they showed during their two games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, including Saturday’s 76-55 win against VCU.
Two nights after Illinois 6-foot-9 freshman David Mirković had 29 points and 17 rebounds, the latter an Illinois NCAA Tournament record, 7-1 center Tomislav Ivišić stepped up his play in the post with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
He and Mirković set the tone early against VCU with eight of Illinois’ first 11 points. Ivišić opened the scoring with an offensive rebound and putback and scored again a few minutes later on an alley-oop dunk on a feed from Mirković.
“Especially after the last game, everybody knew they were going to be a little bit more focused on him, it maybe opened the paint a little bit more for me,” Ivišić said. “I just feel like we complement each other good.
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“I feel like our whole plan is to crash the glass, no matter the misses. That’s where we thrive, offensive rebounding. As the big guys, we take huge responsibility for that. It’s got to be physical, got to have multiple efforts like we did tonight and two days ago. That’s a recipe to win for us.”
Defensively, Underwood said, the Illini also established that they would protect the rim without fouling.
Ivišić’s play was a welcome development after his production was spotty in the last three games of the regular season and the Big Ten Tournament. He had 22 total points in those games, going 8 for 27 from the field. He had two rebounds against Wisconsin.
But he showed up against Penn to total 12 points and seven rebounds to supplement Mirković’s big night. And he did it again Saturday, also adding two assists and a block.
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“Maybe he just needs to play in the NCAA Tournament every game,” Underwood said. “I mean, he gets to a different place. He was terrific on both ends of the court.”
Ivišić watched his twin brother Zvonimir play in the Sweet 16 with Arkansas last year, and while he was happy for his brother, it didn’t quite feel right.
The Illini lost to Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year before sending freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley off to the NBA draft.
Illinois regrouped with several new additions, including transfers Zvonimir and Andrej Stojaković and freshmen Keaton Wagler and Mirković.
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“I just felt like we should have been there,” Tomislav said of 2025. “I’m just glad this year with this team we managed to get there. Nobody will satisfy themselves with that. We didn’t come for that. We know what’s waiting for us. We’re going to be ready, prepare ourselves, scout the opponent and try to win there too.”
The Ivišić twins, along with Stojaković, who had 21 points, were an energizing part of Illinois’ second-half surge Saturday, contributing a string of dunks that got the Illini crowd — and the bench — going.
Tomislav said he was probably even more hyped than his brother to see Zvonimir’s monster dunk in the second half, as the 7-foot-2 center jumped from just in front of the free-throw line. It felt like Zvonimir was flying for five seconds, he said.
“I’m not surprised,” Tomislav said. “He’s capable of that. I’ve seen that 100 times through my life, but every time it’s special.”
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Then he added: “He learned that from me.”
Certainly Tomislav, while not quite as flashy, contributed to the dunking bonanza on Saturday. Early in the second half, Mirković drove the lane to draw defenders and then lofted it up for another Tomislav alley-oop. Tomislav had a two-handed dunk on a feed from Stojaković late. In between the two, he also hit a 3-pointer, his second of the night.
Underwood said Saturday night that the one thing about Big Ten Tournament losses is that everyone moves to Selection Sunday so quickly.
It allowed the Illini to regroup and focus on their ultimate goal — a national championship.
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Next they have to get through a Houston team that dominated Texas A&M 88-57. Underwood didn’t see a ton of the game but said he thought it looked like the Cougars were getting every offensive rebound. Houston boasts strong guard play but also owned a 46-29 rebounding advantage, including 19 on the offensive glass.
The Illini believe they are ready for the next challenge.
“I don’t think we did anything differently than what we did the whole year,” Ivišić said. “I just feel like the team is aware of the stakes at this point. We want to hang out for a little bit more. We want to practice more. We want to play more games. We feel like it’s not our time yet to go home.
“Everybody is covering each other, everybody is rooting for each other. When we have moments we fall down a little bit, like the first half when they came back, we know what we need to do.”
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