Andrej Stojakovic Scores 25 as No. 3 Illinois Pulls Away From Penn 112-70

For about 10 minutes on Thursday night, Penn looked like it might make No. 3 Illinois sweat. Then three dunks in 36 seconds ended the suspense. The Illini blew open a one-point game with an 18-1 run and rolled to a 112-70 win over Penn in front of 15,046 at State Farm Center.

Andrej Stojakovic scored 25 points, 21 of them in the first half, and Illinois cracked 100 for the second time in three nights, following up its record-setting 120-45 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson. Five newcomers scored in double figures. The Illini are 2-0 for the ninth straight season under Brad Underwood, and Underwood's teams are now 18-0 when they score more than 100 points.

This was also a rematch with real history. The same two programs met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March, when No. 3 seed Illinois beat No. 14 seed Penn 105-70 on the way to its first Final Four since 2005. Illinois is now 8-0 all time against the Quakers.

Penn Hung Around

Fran McCaffery's team did not come to Champaign to be a prop. Penn hung around early, and the score was 23-22 midway through the first half. The Quakers were finding just enough offense to keep pace, and a defense that would finish with 12 steals was already making Illinois work for clean possessions.

Then the floor tilted. Illinois ripped off an 18-1 run, and the exclamation point came in a 36-second burst of breakaway dunks by Zvonimir Ivisic, Stojakovic and Stefan Vaaks. Penn went 0-for-10 from the field over nearly six minutes during the run. Over the final 10 minutes of the half, the Quakers scored eight points on 3-of-20 shooting.

By halftime it was 53-30. Stojakovic had 21 of those points, and the game was functionally over.

Stojakovic Sets the Tone

The Illini still do not have preseason All-American David Mirkovic, who is out indefinitely after an appendectomy last Saturday. That makes Stojakovic the alpha by default, and through two games the role fits. After a 20-point night against FDU, Stojakovic went for 25 on 9-of-17 shooting, 2-of-3 from deep and a perfect 5-of-5 at the line, with five rebounds, four assists and a block in 22 minutes.

What stood out was the variety. Stojakovic scored on the break, got to the line and hit from deep. When a team is missing its best player, it needs a scorer who can manufacture points without a play being run, and the Illini have one.

The Freshmen Took Over the Second Half

The second half belonged to the kids. Quentin Coleman, a freshman, went 6-of-6 from the field after the break and finished with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, plus three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Through two college games, Coleman has 32 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.

Zavier Zens, another freshman, poured in 18 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three. Ethan Brown posted a first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, plus five assists, on 4-of-5 shooting and 3-of-4 from deep.

Then there was Lincoln Williams, the freshman who missed the opener and made a college debut as a starter in place of Jake Davis, who had hurt a shoulder against FDU. Williams responded with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, nine rebounds, a block and a steal in 16 minutes. Davis did return for five minutes off the bench, an encouraging sign after leaving Monday's game early.

The veterans did the dirty work. Tomislav Ivisic scored only two points but dished a career-high seven assists and blocked three shots, operating as a passing hub for a young lineup. Zvonimir Ivisic added six points and nine rebounds in 15 minutes.

Turning Point: Owning the Paint

The 18-1 run was the moment, but the paint was the reason. Illinois outscored Penn 66-28 inside and won the glass 62-33, including a staggering 47-17 edge on the defensive boards. Penn missed 61 shots and got only 16 offensive rebounds back. Every miss turned into an Illinois possession, and too many of those possessions turned into dunks: the Illini had 21 fast-break points to Penn's 13 and 17 second-chance points to Penn's seven. When an opponent cannot finish possessions on either end, the scoreboard snowballs quickly, and that is exactly what happened over the final 30 minutes.

Illinois shot 58.9 percent from the field (43 of 73) and 37 percent from three (10 of 27), and made 16 of 23 free throws. Penn, meanwhile, shot 29.1 percent (25 of 86) and 10-of-35 from deep.

There is a real blemish, though. Illinois turned it over 19 times, and Penn's 12 steals produced an 18-12 edge in points off turnovers. Vaaks, who was brilliant in the opener, had five turnovers and shot 5-of-12. Against an Ivy League team that was never going to win the possession battle on the boards, the giveaways did not matter. Against a Big 12 road crowd, they will.

Penn's Silver Linings

The Quakers fell to 0-1 in their opener, and their two biggest names had rough nights. TJ Power shot 3-of-15 for six points with six rebounds and four assists, and Sir Mohammed went 2-of-16 for four points. That is 5-of-31 combined, and no team survives that against the third-ranked team in the country.

Zanoni was the bright spot again. Zanoni scored 16 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting, after leading Penn with 20 in last March's tournament loss to Illinois. Lucas Lueth added 14 points and three blocks in 31 minutes, and Chase Geremia chipped in eight. Penn's bench actually matched Illinois' bench at 41 points apiece, a sign that McCaffery has depth to work with once the shots start falling.

Penn is coming off an 18-12 season and its first NCAA Tournament trip since 2018. Opening on the road in Champaign was a tough draw, but the Quakers will see few defenses this good the rest of the way.

What It Means

Illinois has now played two games without its All-American and won them by a combined 117 points. The early takeaway is that this roster is deeper than anyone outside Champaign realized. Coleman, Brown, Zens and Williams are all freshmen, and all four look ready for real minutes. Vaaks gives the Illini a shooter, and Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic give them size and passing.

The questions are about decision-making and health. Nineteen turnovers will get punished by better teams. Mirkovic's timeline is still unclear, and Davis' shoulder bears watching.

The real test arrives next. Illinois plays its first road game of the season at No. 19 Texas Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 10, in Lubbock. The Red Raiders are 2-0 themselves, and a Tuesday night in Lubbock is a different universe from a Thursday night in Champaign against an Ivy League opponent. It is the first chance to see how this young rotation handles a hostile building, a physical Big 12 opponent and a game that is still in doubt with five minutes to play. If the turnovers travel, the Illini will feel it. After that, Sam Houston visits on Nov. 13, and Duke awaits on Nov. 17.

The Take

Penn gave Illinois 10 good minutes, which is more than FDU managed. The Illini answered the way good teams do, with a burst that turned a game into a rout. Stojakovic looks like a star carrying the load, the freshmen look fearless, and the bench keeps producing. The turnovers are a fixable problem. The talent is not a problem at all.

Read the full box score (opens in a new tab) and the Illinois Athletics recap (opens in a new tab) for every number.

Sources: Illinois Athletics, Penn Athletics, ESPN. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Illinois Athletics.