The Illinois Fighting Illini thrilled and delighted their hometown fans at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill. on Thursday night with a 112-70 win over the Penn Quakers, who were led by a familiar face who used to coach the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Quakers coach Fran McCaffrey matched wits with Illini coach Brad Underwood, but his team appeared overmatched as Illinois ran up 53 points in the first half, opening up a 20-point halftime lead en route to the victory.

After the game, McCaffrey spoke about the sophomore forward who is arguably the best player on Underwood's team, David Mirkovic, after he missed the game following left foot surgery and an emergency appendectomy.

McCaffrey: "He's a Lottery Pick"

McCaffrey didn't hesitate to compliment Mirkovic at a postgame press conference while decked out in a Penn basketball half-zip sweater, as shown by Glenn Kinley of WCIA-3 Champaign.

"Well, he's a lottery pick, ya know, he's an incredible combination of size and skill, and, just have the utmost respect for him. He affects the game in so many ways, I just hope he gets better, I just told him I hope he feels better and gets back quickly."

Mirkovic's appendix issue came to the forefront this past Saturday as he underwent an emergency procedure. He has been using a mini-scooter and a walking boot to get around the court and sidelines at State Farm Center. He appeared without the scooter on Thursday, a welcome sign of progress.

The Illini sophomore had been targeting Nov. 2's season opener before suffering setbacks. Underwood commented on his status after the appendectomy.

"(Mirkovic) is going to be out. He has had a continued setback," Underwood said. "He had his appendix removed...We don't know what that means. Can't give you any further update than that," he said at the time, adding that he wouldn't be in uniform for the Illini's opener against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights.

Illini Thrive Behind Young Lineup

Three freshmen started for Illinois against Penn on Thursday night and all three performed admirably for coach Underwood's team.

The trio of Ethan Brown, Lincoln Williams and Quentin Coleman were all scorching hot from the field as they shot a combined 16-for-19, scoring a combined 44 points.

Brown logged 27 minutes, the most of any Illinois player, while Underwood continued to shuffle new faces in and out of the lineup as Mirkovic watched. The Fighting Illini's big man duo of Tomislav Ivisic and Zvonimir Ivisic played 35 minutes combined, scoring two and six points, respectively.

The Illini's vaunted 'Ivisic twins' duo now has the luxury of deferring to high-scoring teammates while focusing on defense, shot-blocking, rebounding and running the floor. Tomislav Ivisic had three blocked shots while Zvonimir Ivisic had one blocked shot on the night.

Brown continues to outplay his star ranking (three stars out of high school) as he led the Fighting Illini with 10 rebounds.

Underwood will find out a lot about his team in Lubbock, Texas against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Nov. 10 as Mirkovic is expected to miss the game. The Fighting Illini will need its youngsters to continue to play like veterans in a hostile environment to secure the win against Coach Grant McCasland's team, which could become a trendy underdog pick in Las Vegas as gametime draws near.