By IlliniGuys Staff

January 11, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - This time, Illinois missed Kasparas Jakucionis.

The star freshman sat out his second game in a row with a forearm injury and visiting USC took advantage. Desmond Claude scored a season-high 31 points as USC stunned 13th ranked Illinois 82-72 Saturday afternoon.

It's the worst home loss in Big Ten conference play for Illinois (12-4, 4-2 in Big Ten) since losing 80-65 to Indiana in January, 2023.

It was a tipoff at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, but the Trojans were clearly wide awake in the chilly Midwest. They were coming off back-to-back double-digit losses to Michigan and at Indiana, but were the instigator from the opening tip. USC outrebounded the Illini, the top rebounding team in the Big Ten, 37-34 to become just the second team after top-ranked Tennessee to beat them on the boards this season.

Claude scored 21 of his points after halftime as USC rallied from a 38-35 halftime deficit.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn hit a fast-break layup to tie the game 57-57 with 8:46 remaining in the game. But USC (10-6, 2-3) answered with a 13-3 run, hitting six straight shots to break the game open. The Trojans scored 46 points in the paint to earn their first road win over a Top 25 team since 2010.

Meanwhile, Illinois hit just eleven field goals in the second half (11-of-33) and connected on only 7-of-32 three-point attempts. For the game, the Illini shot just 37 percent from the field. They are 0-3 this season when shooting less than 40 percent.

Ben Humrichous led Illinois with 15 points and was the only Illini to hit more than half his shots. Gibbs-Lawhorn and Tre White added 11 each and Kylan Boswell finished with 10.

Jakucionis suffered the injury in a fall during Illinois' win at Washington on Sunday.  He was a last-minute scratch just prior to the Illini's 91-52 win over Penn State Wednesday night. The 6-foot-6 reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week went through a 6 a.m. shootaround, according to IlliniGuys Insider Brad Sturdy, but the decision was made to sit him out again.

Jakucionis is Illinois' MVP in the first half of the season, leading the team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and assists (5.4), but the team also missed his 41 percent three-point shooting and his play in clutch situations, already with a pair of game-winning shots this season.

USC is now 10-0 this season when scoring at least 75 points. They have been on the road while historic wildfires ravage the Los Angeles area, but will return after the game as coach Eric Musselman admitted the issues back home had weighed on coaches and players alike.

Illinois now faces a crucial week ahead with road games at Indiana on Tuesday followed by a trip to Big Ten co-leader Michigan State next Sunday.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.