Illinois 84, Colgate 65 Postgame

[NorthShoreIllini]

Tough spot between huge games. Thank you Mirk. Really don’t want to overact over 2 games but 18/59 from 3 last 2 feels too much like last year.

 

[Illinifinn]

Brad: David we need a good rebounding effort tonight.
Mirk:

 

[Illini92and96]

Didn’t see the game. Did Z get hurt?

 

[blife]

Need to attach a zone way better next time we see one. Learn from this one.

 

[Fly Illini Fly!]

If that last three went he legit wouldve had 30 & 20.

One of the best statistical performances in IL history.

 

[frozenrope9190]

The sandwich buy-in game in between 2 Top 10 matches, without 3 players including Tomi, poor shooting and still win by 19.

I'm all smiles.

 

[Cravingschampaign]

Armchair Illinois on Instagram: "JEEZ. David Mirkovic went off tonight for 27 points and 21 rebounds on 8/16 from the field. The freshman big now averages 18.5ppg and 12.5 rebounds a game.. Big Freshman of the year candidate? 📸: David Pollak @mushl

David Mirkovic, a talented freshman, made a lasting impression on the basketball scene with his remarkable performance in his Illini debut. With 27 points and 21 rebounds, he showcased his exceptional skills and left a mark on the game. As he continues to grow, it's clear that he has the...

www.instagram.com

Crazy work

 

[hoopsfan47]

nice W and nice to put up 80+ on a poor shooting night

That is the key when you are having a substandard shooting night. Rebound the heck out of the ball and keep TOs to a min. Keep fouls at a min. That gets you 7 more shots than your opponent and that was the difference. For a game at the left end of the curve....not bad at all.

Kudos to David MIrkovic for doing something no Illini has done in 43 years. Still some frosh errors but that is just fine as he seems to be progressing nicely and learning how to play at a high level doing whatever needs to be done.

Disappointing not to have seen MP debut...gonna need him on Wed....hope he is ready.

Get well Tomi!!!!!!!!!

 

[ILLFAN67]

No Petrovic? Is he still hurt?

 

[Illinifan74]

Mirkovic is just that dude.

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

David Mirkovic is the best freshman in the country.

Camron Boozer was also awesome tonight, and averages a few more points a game, but our guy deserves to be in that conversation.
He’s going to have to do it against top competition to get anyone to admit it.
What a get for our guys tho… everyone knew Boozer was a stud. Who even heard of David before we landed him?

 

[Orangetool]

Kinda cool that our two leading scorers are freshmen.

 

[Serious Late]

I did not have "David Mirkovic may be on my Mt Rushmore of Favorite Illini Hoopsters by mid-November" on my Bingo card preseason.

This team is going to be a joy to watch this year. They didn't even play that well overall this game. Who cares. Its gonna be 2 hours well spent everytime this team takes the court this season.

The internal hype is building in me, I've already warned my wife.

 

[Piotyr]

Just your average sleepy B level effort while you couldn't buy a bucket against a likely NCAA team but still win by 20.

 

[blackdog]

I don't know how anyone could be upset at this game. We didn't shoot it very well...maybe the first extended look at a good zone defense this year.
I'm not worried at all.


We just watched a historic performance from David Mirkovic. Not good. Not great. Historic.

That was special.

Oh yeah we won by 20. Lol.

In the last 7 years Colgate has been in the NCAA tournament 5 times and has been a 14 or 15 seed each time. In other words this game was like the equivalent of a first-round tourney game for a 2 or 3 seed.

 

[CDRUSN]

Our 2 true freshman, Mirk and Wagler, combined for 46 of our 84 points (55% of total scoring), and 27 of our 49 rebounds (55% of our total boards). Yet, neither got much attention when we were recruiting them. I trust Brad and staff when it comes to talent evaluation and development. They are back to back home runs.

 

[band camp]

ILL!

INI

 

[AnnoyedWithGarza]

Didn’t see the game. Did Z get hurt?

I do not believe so. It just didn't seem like a game where he was having an effect. Mirk was handling the boards and the paint for us, and their team was a bit smaller, so it was an odd matchup for Z. After the game, during a Mirk interview, he came running over, hugged Mirk, and then ran off, so I would assume he is perfectly fine.

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989543199879159823

 

[AnnoyedWithGarza]

In the last 7 years Colgate has been in the NCAA tournament 5 times and has been a 14 or 15 seed each time. In other words this game was like the equivalent of a first-round tourney game for a 2 or 3 seed.

Shot like crap and still won by 20.

 

[Emerson Bigguns]

Didn’t see the game. Did Z get hurt?

Seems like Brad just liked Ben better tonight… Mirk was obviously cleaning everything up on the glass.
Z looked fine on the sideline…
Ben didn’t shoot well… again… but he has been so much better defensively.

 

[skyIdub]

Oh by the way, that was our non con trap game y'all. TTU, TRAP, Alabama........

 

[DB11Headband]

No Petrovic? Is he still hurt?

The plan was to play him-not sure what happened

 

[NarrowJ]

Our 2 true freshman, Mirk and Wagler, combined for 46 of our 84 points (55% of total scoring), and 27 of our 49 rebounds (55% of our total boards). Yet, neither got much attention when we were recruiting them. I trust Brad and staff when it comes to talent evaluation and development. They are back to back home runs.

Yea and I remember the mass psychogenic illness this message board suffered when we landed Ethan Brown & Landon Davis back to back

I think we've done pretty well, so if those dudes are just roster filler: fine (but, I doubt it)

 

[band camp]

Anyone else see Big Z limping a bit?