Illinois head basketball coach Brad Underwood knows what he has with backup center Zvonimir Ivisic. The head coach acknowledged his 7-foot-2 “luxury” of a center after the latter's big game in the Illini's win over Minnesota to improve to 15-3.

Illinois collected its seventh consecutive win on Saturday, which it arguably might not have secured without Ivisic, who poured in 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks off the bench. After the win, Underwood recognized that “not many people” can rely on a player like Ivisic as their sixth man.

“Not many people have that,” Underwood said with a smile, via FOX. “I think you bring in one of the elite defenders in college basketball [when I sub in Ivisic]. That's very nice. And then you have a guy that's experienced. He's been there, done that. He sees the game; he knows the game. It's a luxury, and I understand that. You get two of them, three of them — frontcourt guys that are pretty special.”

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Ivisic only plays 17.0 minutes per game, but he averages 8.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 1.2 three-pointers per game off the bench. The Croatian's block numbers are tied for second in the Big Ten and tied for 18th-most in the country.

While Ivisic would start for many other teams in the country, he comes off the bench behind his brother, Tomislav Ivisic. Zvonimir Ivisic is one inch taller and the better rim protector, but Tomislav is a slightly more versatile scorer with an equally imposing presence in the paint.

Tomislav Ivisic is in his second year with the Illinois basketball program, while Zvonimir is in his first year with the team. The latter Ivisic has been playing college basketball for one year longer, but spent his first two seasons with Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively.