Illinois Fighting Illini (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) at UCLA Bruins (24-1, 12-1 Big Ten)
Los Angeles; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 3 UCLA will look for its 25th victory of the season when the Bruins play the No. 25 Illinois.
The Bruins have gone 11-0 in home games. UCLA is fifth in the Big Ten scoring 79.6 points while shooting 48.5% from the field.
The Fighting Illini are 11-4 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois is 1-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.
UCLA makes 48.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.9 percentage points higher than Illinois has allowed to its opponents (39.6%). Illinois has shot at a 43.8% rate from the field this season, 10.1 percentage points greater than the 33.7% shooting opponents of UCLA have averaged.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Lauren Betts is averaging 19.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks for the Bruins. Kiki Rice is averaging 12.6 points over the last 10 games.
Kendall Bostic is scoring 15.9 points per game with 11.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Fighting Illini. Genesis Bryant is averaging 15.5 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 35.6% over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 9-1, averaging 74.5 points, 37.9 rebounds, 20.2 assists, 6.3 steals and 6.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.3 points per game.
Fighting Illini: 9-1, averaging 72.1 points, 31.7 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 4.3 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.2 points.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
