How to Watch Illinois at USC
Game Time: 7 p.m. Saturday
TV Channel: Fox
Online Streaming: FoxSportsGO
Odds: N/A (Illinois 66.5% Chance To Win – ESPN Matchup Predictor)
Quick Hits:
Illinois Fighting Illini (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Brad Underwood (9th season)
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Last Game: Illinois 101, USC 65
Gameday Reading:
TCR Bracketology 8.0: Illinois’ outlook four weeks from Selection Sunday
Historical data points to Illinois making deep March run
UCLA Bruins (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten)
Last Game: MSU 82, UCLA 59
What Happened the Last Time These Two Teams Played?
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UCLA leads all-time series 6-5.
Feb. 11, 2025: Illinois 83, UCLA 78
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A bit too close for comfort, but we’ll take it.
On a night when the program honored one of its greatest players, Illinois defeated UCLA 83-78, thanks to a combined 40 points from European stars Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic.
Illinois (17-8, 9-6 Big Ten) earned its second consecutive win on Tuesday. The win over new Big Ten foe UCLA (18-7, 9-5 Big Ten) marked the Illini’s first back-to-back victories since early January. With just five Big Ten games left, this win significantly helped their chances of staying in the hunt for a top-four seed and double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
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“Hats off to UCLA,” Brad Underwood said in his opening statement to the media. “I thought first half defensively we were terrific…We had a couple too many turnovers that led to some easy baskets for them, but I thought in the first half we played really well. Second half became a shootout…good Big Ten basketball game. Great win. Excited to come out of here with a W and move onto the next.”
After an encouraging offensive showcase against Minnesota last Saturday, Illinois managed to stay hot against an elite defensive team in UCLA. Illinois looked their best against the Golden Gophers when they attacked the rim and found open cutters, and then supplemented that with a 9-for-16 shooting performance from deep.
Illinois won the battle in the paint and had another impressive three-point shooting night (11-for-28) versus UCLA. Ivisic showed how important he was to this offense yet again, nailing 4 threes and dishing out 3 assists. His running mate Jakucionis reminded us what he could do as well, tallying 24 points for his second-straight 20-point showing.
The Illini led comfortably for much of the first half, mostly due to UCLA’s inability to find open looks offensively. UCLA shot just 9-for-28 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
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Illinois committed nine first-half turnovers (14 on the night), however, which led in part to a 12-3 Bruins run to close the half. The Illini had previously gone on 10-2 and 14-5 runs to grow their lead to as many as 15 points, but led by six at the break.
UCLA continued to stick around in the second half despite a number of plays and runs that sparked the rowdy Champaign crowd. The return of Kofi Cockburn for his jersey celebration (and Bruins guard Skyy Clark) had the State Farm Center rocking all night.
“I wanna thank the fans,” Kasparas Jakucionis said. “They mean a lot to us. I think they motivate us to play harder. Every time we dive on the floor or we get the offensive rebound, they’re cheering for us. When we go to the free throw line, they’re cheering for us. I think they’re the best fans in the country.”
UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau was the biggest reason the Bruins were able to stick around, as he knocked down seven three-pointers and scored 25 points.
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An extended 17-8 Illini run, which saw Jakucionis and Ivisic at their best, gave the Illini a sizable lead late, but an ensuing 13-0 run from UCLA gave Illinois a massive scare. A clutch fadeaway shot from Jakucionis and an offensive rebound from Ivisic helped the Illini survive at home.
“I don’t worry about wins,” Underwood said. “The margin doesn’t concern me as much as how we play. I think that we’re a process-driven group and it’s ‘how do we play in the process’ and ‘what do we have to learn’. It’s challenging against a team that’s well-coached.”
