No. 13 Illinois Basketball Gets Outworked, Worked Over in Upset by USC

The Illini turned in arguably their worst effort of the season in an 82-72 loss to the visiting Trojans

Jan 11, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; USC Trojans forward Saint Thomas (0) calls a timeout after recovering a loose ball in front of Illinois Fighting Illini forward Ben Humrichous (3) during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

If No. 13 Illinois has a trademark – a single characteristic that can be pointed to and counted on like clockwork – it is that the Illini show up every game to scrap like hell.

But Saturday in Champaign, that Illinois club didn't show up at all.

The Illini (12-4, 4-2 Big Ten) were a sloppy, sputtering mess on offense against visiting USC, but the shocker was that they rolled over and exposed a soft underbelly, routinely getting pushed around or passing the buck inside, as the Trojans claimed a 82-72 upset for its first ranked road win since 2010.

In what has become a painfully common refrain, Illinois again committed too many turnovers (15) and struggled from the perimeter, hitting just 7-for-32 (21.9 percent) on threes. But while the calling cards of defense and rebounding have typically covered up blemishes a lot of blemishes for the Illini, they were virtually absent against USC (10-6, 2-3).

The Trojans attacked the Illini interior defense over and over, piling up 46 points in the paint on 14 layups and five dunks. Guard Desmond Claude torched the Illini for a game-high 31 points without hitting a single three.

Desmond Claude went off today 💥

The @USC_Hoops G dropped 31 points in their upset win over No. 13 Illinois.#B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/XCaTO7DfUm

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 11, 2025

If there was an exception to Illinois' Saturday no-show, it was – maybe unsurprisingly – guard Kyland Boswell. Although Boswell continued to shoot blanks from the perimeter (0-for-5 on threes), he was a hellion on defense (five steals) and the boards (team-high eight rebounds). Too often, his teammates failed to follow his lead.

Ben Humrichous led Illinois with 15 points and continued his good works from beyond the arc (3-for-8 on threes), but he was among the many thumb-twiddling offenders when the Illini needed a defender to stop the ball or square off a solid box-out.

Case in point: With the Illini breathing their last gasps, a Boswell free throw cut the Trojans' lead to seven at 2:36 in the second half. But, critically, he missed the back end. And when a rare missed layup from Claude bounced free on the ensuing possession, it was Humrichous and Tre White who watched as USC forward Saint Thomas worked around and over them, grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled while converting the stick-back. Thomas' three-point play put the Trojans up 77-67 with 2:12 to play, all but putting the game out of reach.

The disappointment was palpable after the Illini had turned a squirrelly first-half effort and a nine-point deficit into a 38-35 lead. They hung around by making the most of their dead-ball plays and trips to the free-throw line (11-for-11 before the break), and seemed to take over the reins in the final moments before the break.

Humrichous bombed a three from roughly 30 feet with the Illini down two and just 1:05 left in the half. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn poked away USC's next possession, taking it the other way and dishing to White, who swooped in a reverse layup to drain the remaining clock and send the State Farm Center into a frenzy.

Although freshman guard Kasparas Jakcuionis (left forearm strain) missed his second consecutive game, the Illini can't use his injury as an excuse. The Trojans hits shots, but they also met little resistance from Illinois.

Exhibit A: Rashaun Agee, who had hit two threes in 14 games entering Saturday, went 3-for-5 on threes against the Illini. But he also had two monstrous second-half dunks – including one off a clean-runway putback jam that sent USC up72-62 with 4:06 to play.

The Illini can't control whether shots fall or the ball bounces their way. But they had, without fail, previously come to play with effort and desire in every game. Saturday was proof how slim the margins are when even a very good team doesn't compete.

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