Illinois took a road trip to Los Angeles on Wednesday night, facing off with USC. USC star Alijah Arenas was limited due to illness, but his full participation may not have made a difference in this one. Illinois took a 101-65 victory in the contest.
In the victory, the offensive explosion set multiple records, according to Jared Berson.
Illinois is now the first team to score 100 points, on a 50-40-90 shooting performance in a Big Ten game this century. Illinois was dominant as a team. They hit 32 of 62 field goal attempts, good for a 52 percent field goal percentage. Meanwhile, they were 13 of 29 from three, good for a 45 percent shooting day. Finally, they made 24 of 25 free throws, sinking 92 percent of their attempts there.
Moreover, Illinois is the first team to have seven players score in double digits in a Big Ten game in the last 15 seasons.
This was led by Andrej Stojakovic off the bench. He played just 17 minutes in the game, scoring 22 points while also going a perfect nine for nine from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Ben Humrichous also scored 11 points off the bench, hitting three of his six three-point attempts and adding two free throws.
Outside of the two guys coming off the bench, all five starters scored in double digits. That was led by the 14 points of David Mirkovic, who also added three rebounds and four assists. Jake Davis also had an impressive shooting night. He took just four field goal attempts, all of them from three, and all of them good. That led to 12 points to go along with his seven rebounds.
Finally, Kylan Boswell scored 12 points, while Keaton Wagler and Tomislav Ivisic both put in ten points. While solid offense is not uncommon for Illinois, as they sit 30th in the nation in 84.8 points per game, this was a special explosion of offense.
Illinois is now 22-5 on the season, and 13-3 in conference play, good for second in the Big Ten. They return to play on Saturday, staying in LA to face UCLA.
