No. 4 USC takes on No. 25 Illinois, seeks 25th win of season

Illinois Fighting Illini (21-6, 11-5 Big Ten) at USC Trojans (24-2, 14-1 Big Ten)

Los Angeles; Sunday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 4 USC will look for its 25th victory this season when the Trojans host the No. 25 Illinois.

The Trojans have gone 13-1 at home. USC is 2-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Fighting Illini have gone 11-5 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois ranks sixth in the Big Ten shooting 34.2% from 3-point range.

USC scores 82.2 points, 22.1 more per game than the 60.1 Illinois allows. Illinois has shot at a 43.5% clip from the field this season, 8.1 percentage points higher than the 35.4% shooting opponents of USC have averaged.

The matchup Sunday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: JuJu Watkins is averaging 24.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.9 blocks for the Trojans. Avery Howell is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Kendall Bostic is averaging 15.6 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Fighting Illini. Genesis Bryant is averaging 15.3 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trojans: 9-1, averaging 79.1 points, 36.9 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 10.0 steals and 7.0 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.7 points per game.

Fighting Illini: 8-2, averaging 70.8 points, 32.3 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.8 points.

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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 This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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