Andrej Stojakovic’s 22 points led seven double-figure point scorers for No. 10 Illinois in a 101-65 pounding of short-handed Southern California on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Doubt loomed over the availability of Stojakovic going into this week’s California road trip for Illinois (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten). The wing, who hadn’t played since sustaining an ankle injury on Feb. 7 against Michigan State, answered all questions with a 6-of-7 shooting performance from the floor coming off the bench on Wednesday, and a perfect 9-of-9 at the free-throw line.
Stojakovic helped fuel an offensive onslaught that began early, with Illinois running out to a 15-3 lead 5:33 into the contest and never looking back.
The Illini shot 32 of 62 (51.6%) from the floor, including 13 of 29 (44.8%) on 3-point attempts, led by Jake Davis’ perfect 4-of-4 success from beyond the arc. Davis scored all 12 of his points from long distance.
Davis also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Six different Illinois shooters connected on at least one 3-pointer. Ben Humrichous knocked down 3 of 6 from deep on his way to 11 points off the bench, while David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic each made a pair of triples en route to 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Keaton Wagler added 10 points and Kylan Boswell finished with 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists to round out Illinois’ collection of double-figure scorers. The balanced attack powered Illinois to its highest scoring output in Big Ten play this season and helped the Illini maintain sole possession of second place in a tight conference competition.
USC (18-8, 7-8), meanwhile, found itself in a tough spot before opening tip. Season-long leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara was a late scratch from the lineup, and his backcourt mates — Alijah Arenas and Kam Woods — shot a combined 4 of 14 from the floor for eight and four points, respectively.
Arenas came into Wednesday’s contest with three straight games posting at least 24 points.
Ezra Ausar recorded a double-double for the Trojans with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Jacob Cofie added 14 points, but the two combined for almost as many made field goals (11) as the rest of USC’s roster combined (12).
–Field Level Media
