NCAA Tournament: Illinois routs Penn 105-70 behind David Mirković’s big night to advance to 2nd round
•Yahoo Sports
GREENVILLE, S. C. – Illinois needed a get-right game.
The fans at Bon Secours Wellness Arena probably needed a rest from the nail-biters. The third-seeded Illini delivered both late Thursday night with a good old-fashioned blowout of No. 14 seed Penn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Illinois turned a 10-point halftime lead into a 105-70 rout, wearing Penn down with its powerful, deep offense to advance to Saturday’s second round against No. 11 seed VCU. The first three games Thursday in Greenville were riveting.
No. 9 seed TCU knocked off No. 8 Ohio State 66-64, and No.
16 Siena gave top-seeded Duke a serious scare in the East Region games. VCU then topped No. 6 North Carolina in overtime in the first of the South Region games.