USC Men's Basketball Comes Home With Win Over No. 13 Illinois

Saturday, January 11

Champaign, Ill.

9:00 a.m.

USC

10-6,2-3Big Ten

Illinois

12-4,4-2Big Ten

Southern California

Illinois

USC Men's Basketball Comes Home With Win Over No. 13 Illinois

January 11, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Desmond Claude led USC in scoring with 31 points, the most a Trojan has scored all season.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – USC Men's Basketball (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) wrapped up their time in the Midwest as they took on No. 13 Illinois. The Trojans wanted to return to Los Angeles with a win, and that is exactly what they did as they secured their first ranked road win since 2010 by taking down the Illini 82-72.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Illinois was the first on the board with a dunk, but it didn't keep the Trojans down. USC rallied quickly with back-to-back baskets from Desmond Claude and Chibuzo Agbo. USC held the Illini to 1-of-8 shooting through the first seven minutes, which allowed the Trojans to stay ahead by seven. In the last three minutes of the half, the Illini started fighting back against the Trojans as they got within one. By the time halftime rolled around, the Illini pulled ahead as USC was down by two with a score of 38-35.

Once the second half began, the Trojans came out with a new fire as they made four of their first five baskets to tie the game. With the help of Claude's 21 second-half points, USC slowly sneaked ahead of the Illini, going up by four with 13 minutes left in the game. The Illini tried to battle back, but every time they did, the Trojans immediately responded. USC made six-straight baskets to take a 10-point lead over Illinois with five minutes left to go in the game. No matter what Illinois tried, USC would not let up their lead as they left the State Farm Center with an 82-72 win over the No. 13 Illini.

NOTABLES

Three Trojans scored in the double digits on Saturday - Desmond Claude (31), Wesley Yates III (15) and Rashaun Agee (13).
Desmond Claude shined for the Trojans tonight as he finished his sixth game of the season with 20 or more points. By the end of the game, he registered a new season-high of 31 points. This is the most by any Trojan this season.
Wesley Yates III finished the first half shooting at 100 percent from the field. This is the second time in three games that he did that. This is also the fourth straight game where Yates finished with double-digit points.

USC held Illinois to just 24 defensive rebounds and 34 total boards on Saturday. Entering today's contest, the Illini were No. 1 in the NCAA when it comes to rebounds per game (45.9), rebound margin (+13.3) and defensive rebounds per game (32.5).
The Trojans outscored Illinois in the paint 46-30 and had 12 second-chance points in contrast to the Illini's nine.
USC had a season-high five dunks against Illinois.
Agee and Saint Thomas each contributed eight rebounds, including seven defensive boards from Thomas.
Chibuzo Agbo recorded nine points, four rebounds, three assists and an impressive three steals against the Illini.
This win against the No. 13 Illini is the first time the Trojans defeated a ranked opponent on the road since Dec. 21, 2010, when USC took down No. 19 Tennessee 65-64.

QUOTABLES
Coach Eric Musselman on what this win means for the team…
"It was the toughness and the effort. These guys got rewarded because they are playing so hard every night. Today is a reward for all the things that they have done when we have come up short."

Coach Eric Musselman on the plan heading into this game with Illinois…
"We wanted to control the tempo, so that means no three's in transition and no mid-range pull-ups in transition. We wanted to run with Illinois, but run for layups and dunks. If there were no layups or dunks, pull the ball out. And that's what we did."

Coach Eric Musselman on USC moving forward…
"We are moving in the right direction. Sometimes you lose games, and you get frustrated. But this team really plays hard. We play as hard as we can, and that's all you can ask as a team to do is to play with great, effort energy and enthusiasm. And we do that, even in the games we lose."

UP NEXT
The Trojans will return to the Galen Center this week on Tuesday, Jan. 14, as they take on the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. For those who can't make it to Los Angeles, they can watch on FS1 or they can listen through the ESPN LA 710.