By IlliniGuys Staff

November 14, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - David Mirkovic opened his collegiate career with double-doubles in both games last week.  Friday night, he aimed a little higher.

The freshman from Montenegro scored 27 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to lead 14th ranked Illinois to the 84-65 victory over Colgate.  It was the first 20-20 game in Illinois history since future NBA player Nick Weatherspoon put up 37 points and 21 rebounds in 1972.

Mirkovic, who was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his play against Jackson State and Florida Gulf Coast last week, put himself in the record books as the 21 rebounds tied for seventh best all-time, three shy of the school record of 24 set by Skip Thoren at UCLA in 1963. He also set a new single-game freshman record, breaking Kofi Cockburn's record of 17 against The Citadel and Rutgers in 2019-20. Mirkovic had more offensive rebounds (8) than Colgate did as a team (6) on the night.

Illinois (4-0) stayed unbeaten despite their worst shooting night of the young season, hitting just 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range. But the Illini won the rebounding battle again with 49 boards against 29 for the visiting Raiders. Illinois is outrebounding opponents by an average of 23 boards per game this season.

Fellow freshman Keaton Wagler scored 19 points, his fourth double-digit scoring effort in as many games, while Kylan Boswell added 11. Ben Humrichous scored 10 off the bench.

This was a game where Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovic was expected to make his Illinois debut, but he remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. All-Big Ten center Tomislav Ivisic also missed his third straight game with a lower leg injury suffered prior to last Friday's win over Florida Gulf Coast.

It's the third time Illinois has started a season 4-0 under Brad Underwood, who is in his ninth year over the program. It's the first time the Illini have scored at least 80 points in their first four games of a season since 2014.

Freshman forward Andrew Alekseyenko scored 21 points for Colgate (1-3), which has never beaten Illinois in six tries.

The Illini will now face off against 8th ranked Alabama Wednesday night at the United Center in Chicago (8pm, FS1). Illinois lost to the Crimson Tide 100-87 in a neutral court game in Birmingham last season.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage from State Farm Center.