Illinois is missing David Mirkovic, who had 29 points and 17 rebounds against Penn in March. Jake Davis is also out with a shoulder injury.
Penn returns four starters, including TJ Power and Michael Zanoni. In 2025-26, Power made 79 threes at 43.2%, and Zanoni added 55 at 38.7%. That gives Penn +31 a scoring option away from Illinois' remaining big men.
Returning point guard AJ Levine had 119 assists against 59 turnovers last season. Penn averaged 10.7 turnovers per game over 30 games in 2025-26, while Illinois opponents averaged 7.7 over 37 games.