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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – The Illinois men’s basketball team has a unique familiarity with their upcoming NCAA Tournament first-round opponent.
The third-seeded Illinois squad is set to clash with the 14-seed Penn on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina.
Interestingly, the Illini, particularly their coaching staff and supporters, have a well-established acquaintance with Penn’s head coach. Fran McCaffery, who has returned to lead the Quakers in his first year at his alma mater, brings a wealth of experience after 15 years coaching in the Big Ten at Iowa.
“Fran is a great friend,” remarked Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “We know that any team coached by McCaffery will be a formidable challenge.”
Adding to their familiarity, Illinois has played at the Palestra, Penn’s home court, during a matchup against Penn State earlier this season. However, this prior experience is unlikely to influence their upcoming NCAA Tournament face-off significantly.
“We have a lot in common,” Underwood said of the Penn head coach. “To just see him genuinely happy at Penn… really cool… He’s an elite competitor, as I am, and for those 40 minutes you hook it up and then you hug after and wish the winner the best. We’ve had a lot of battles with Fran over the years, and I know we’re going to get a team that’s very well coached and plays extremely hard.”
What else is important when it comes to the Quakers 2025-26 squad?
Players:
TJ Power, a 6-foot-9 junior foward, is fresh off a sensational performance in the Ivy League Tournament Championship in which he posted 44 points and 14 rebounds as Penn beat top-seeded Yale in overtime.
Illini held players-only meeting on Saturday, hosted by Kylan Boswell
“He’s a high-major player,” Underwood said, citing his previous stops at Duke and Virginia. “He can really shoot it… We’ll have our hands full.”
Power isn’t Penn’s leading scorer, however. Ethan Roberts, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, is scoring 16.9 points per game – ranking him fourth in the Ivy League. Roberts did not play in the Ivy League Tournament, however, due to a concussion. He is an Arlington Heights, Ill. native.
Team trends:
As for the overall resume, Penn is 18-11 on the season and went 9-5 in conference play. It enters the big dance having won five games in a row, and nine of its last 10.
McCaffery’s team doesn’t have much in the form of big wins – dropping its only two games against high major teams. Penn lost 106-81 to Providence in November and 90-63 to Villanova in December.
Penn was fourth, out of eight teams, in the Ivy League in scoring – at 76.1 points per game. They score without often relying too much on outside shooting, averaging just 20 three-point attempts per game, the second least in the Ivy League. Illinois is attempting more than 30 three-pointers per game.
The opening round game is set to start at 8:25 CT on Thursday.