Three Instant Observations From Illinois Basketball's 101-65 Over USC

Apparently, the California sunshine still agrees with Andrej Stojakovic.

A native Californian whose father starred with the NBA's Sacramento Kings and who transferred from Cal in the offseason, Stojakovic came off a two-game absence and a high ankle sprain to lead No. 10 Illinois with 22 points, running the floor like a gazelle and serving as the avatar for the Illini's effortless dominance in a 101-65 win over USC on Wednesday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

The rest of the Illini, too, seemed right at home on the first leg of their two-game West Coast trip, combining to shoot 51.6 percent from the floor, hold the Trojans to 37.1 percent shooting and rag-doll them on the boards, 41-30. Illinois did all sorts of excellent Illinois things, while USC – already missing Rodney Rice and Chad Baker-Mazara because of injuries – hit its breaking point even before Alijah Arenas essentially succumbed to illness and an apparent thigh injury during the game.

Andrej heads to the line for the and 1!

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— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 19, 2026

Even if the Trojans (17-10, 8-8) weren't at their best, it was hard not to be impressed by the Illini (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten), who scored their most points in a conference game this season and decimated a solid Big Ten opponent in its own building while it was still putting the pieces of its own roster back together.

Here are three more observations from Illinois' takedown of USC on Wednesday night:

1. Illinois mixed its defensive schemes to perfection

Early in the first half, the Illini toggled between a man-to-man and a matchup zone defense, both of which handcuffed the Trojans. Kylan Boswell locked down Arenas. Stojakovic, Ben Humrichous and Jake Davis moved on a string to provide help and rotate onto shooters. Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic unleashed a 14-foot reign of terror on USC in the paint. Everyone crashed the boards. And by the time the Illini had shot out to a 25-8 lead, they added insult to injuries (and additional insults) by springing a vicious halfcourt trap that forced the Trojans to burn a timeout.

Credit where credit is due: We give a fair amount of stick to Illinois' Brad Underwood for his in-game coaching, but it was his decisions that triggered the avalanche that would essentially bury USC in a hopeless deficit. He also smartly spelled Keaton Wagler, got minutes-hungry Brandon Lee onto the floor in the first half and got Mihailo Petrovic involved with a semi-reasonable amount of time left in the game. Well done. No notes.

2. The Illini are as healthy and harmonic as they have been all season

Injuries sidelined Stojakovic and Petrovic in the preseason and delayed the start of their season. Lee was hobbled. More recently, Boswell and Stojakovic (again) missed time. In between, a roster that had been roughly three-quarters turned over needed time to cook up the right chemistry – especially with an unexpected starting point guard (Wagler) leading the way.

Boswell's shot may still be coated in a layer of rust, but the rest of his game has been on point in the two games since his return, and Stojakovic appeared 100 percent Wednesday. More importantly, the entire Illini group moved the ball brilliantly – quickly, unselfishly and with purpose – glided to their spots and maintained super spacing. The offense has never looked more coordinated, and simply better, than it did two time zones away from home in an opponent's building.

Keaton Steal
Kylan Assist
Jake Three

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— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 19, 2026

3. Are the Plodding Illini learning how to fly?

A handful of opportunities fell into the Illini's laps, in part because the Trojans were desperate to stop the bleeding on the glass and were occasionally caught out of position, but it was a surprise to see Illinois get out and run more than usual and ultimately finish with 19 fastbreak points – an enormous sum for this outfit.

+2

Z's block leads to Brandon's layup!

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— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 19, 2026

Illinois has been brutally effective dropping the hammer in the halfcourt, piling up extra possessions with offensive rebounds and monotonously bludgeoning opponents into submission. But it's good to know the Illini can cut them with speed when the opportunities arise. Illinois could have a used a handful of easy buckets against Michigan State, which was able to match its might on the boards. And against a virtually weakness-free future foe – what rhymes with Fichigan? – even an ultra-efficient Illini offense will need to leverage every advantage that presents itself.