USC men have no answer for No. 10 Illinois in their most lopsided loss of season

LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team didn’t have an answer for the second-highest scoring offense in the Big Ten Conference on Wednesday night.

No. 10 Illinois scored seemingly at will from all three levels, with seven players finishing in double figures as the Fighting Illini rolled to a 101-65 win. They handed USC its second straight loss and biggest blowout of the season.

“I didn’t think USC played well on either side of the ball,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “It’s pretty simple. We were not good enough tonight. We’ve got to get better in all aspects.”

Illinois’ Jake Davis made all four of his 3-point shots and Kylan Boswell attacked the paint to chip in 12 points while handing out eight assists. Andrej Stojakovic went a perfect 9 for 9 on free throws and scored a game-high 22 points, while David Mirkovic added 14 points.

The inside of the Galen Center was brimming with blue-and-orange-clad Illinois fans who had come to support the second-place team in the Big Ten. And with one of their most significant contributors on the sideline with injury, the Trojans (18-8 overall, 7-8 Big Ten) couldn’t overcome the noise.

Six-foot-7 USC wing Chad Baker-Mazara, who averages 18.3 points, 3.6 defensive rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots, missed his third straight game with a knee strain that he sustained in the Trojans’ Feb. 3 game against Indiana.

Baker-Mazara, who remains day-to-day, was not on the bench for the game and the offense suffered without him as USC fell behind 54-32 by halftime.

“He wasn’t available tonight. We’ll take it day by day,” Musselman said when asked why Baker-Mazara wasn’t present.

Ezra Ausar scored a team-high 15 points and added 11 rebounds for the Trojans, who fell to 0-4 against ranked teams. Jacob Cofie added 14 points, but he and Ausar combined for almost as many made field goals (11) as the rest of USC’s roster combined (12).

Alijah Arenas and Kam Woods shot a combined 4 for 14 from the floor for eight and four points, respectively. Arenas came into Wednesday’s contest with three straight games of at least 24 points. Woods did record seven assists for the Trojans, who committed 14 turnovers that led to 22 points for the Illini.

Boswell was playing in his second straight game for Illinois (22-5, 13-3) after missing nearly a month’s worth of games with a broken right hand and was active on both offense and defense. He scored 10 points in the first half while dishing out four assists and grabbing two steals.

He threw down a one-handed, putback dunk with three seconds remaining in the opening half, hanging on the rim with his previously broken, bandaged hand and staring out at the crowd in stoic celebration after the basket.

“I just had a feeling that he might miss,” said Boswell, whose scarred hand appeared slightly swollen after the game. “Came in, and I just happened to catch it.”

The Illini dominated the free-throw line early, an area where USC typically excels. The Trojans shot 7 for 10 from the foul line before the break, but Illinois was 15 for 17 and handled USC’s physicality under the net well enough to score 24 of its points from the line in the game.

“There’s definitely some calls I thought that were missed throughout the night, but at the end of the day, we’ve gone through that kind of adversity,” Boswell said. “I think the biggest thing is rebounding, knowing that they’re gonna be aggressive, and trying to block shots. They’re gonna be hands-on. Just come in there and try to clean up all the messes.”

Cofie was USC’s top scorer and rebounder in the first half with eight points and four boards. He battled in the paint and dropped in a layup that helped string together six unanswered points midway through the half, but Illinois made the Trojans earn every point in the paint.

USC was outscored 47-33 in the second half, while visiting fans took turns shouting “I-L-L” with the other side of the arena responding “I-N-I.” The Illini faithful erupted when their team surpassed 100 points for the first time in any Big Ten game this season.

The Trojans’ offense was left without a key cog when Woods, the starting point guard, fouled out of the game. Prior to that, he converted a layup with 12:24 left on the clock to halt a 12-0 Illinois run, but the Illini had an answer for everything against the Trojans’ defense.

Stojakovic grabbed a steal half a minute later and went across the court for a one-handed dunk that pushed the visitors’ lead to 75-42. The 6-foot-7 guard, who sustained an ankle injury on Feb. 7 against Michigan State, shot 6 for 7 from the floor on a night when Illinois shot 50% from the field in the second half and 51.6% for the night while making 24 of 26 free throws.

Illinois, which won won for the 14th time in the past 16 games, shot 13 for 29 from 3-point range, with six different players making at least one 3-pointer. In addition to Davis’ 4-for-4 effort, Ben Humrichous was 3 for 6, while Tomislav Ivisic and Mirkovic each made a pair.

USC has five games left on its Big Ten regular-season schedule (all in the Pacific time zone), including two against crosstown rival UCLA.

“Every player, person, coach in the program has got to look in the mirror and ask how we can get better? We’ve still got a lot to play for,” Musselman said. “Can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Can’t make excuses.”