USC Trojans (9-6, 1-3 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (12-3, 4-1 Big Ten)
Champaign, Illinois; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 13 Illinois hosts USC after Ben Humrichous scored 21 points in Illinois’ 91-52 victory against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
The Fighting Illini are 8-1 in home games. Illinois is fourth in the Big Ten in team defense, allowing 66.2 points while holding opponents to 37.6% shooting.
The Trojans are 1-3 in Big Ten play. USC has a 1-0 record in one-possession games.
Illinois averages 10.7 made 3-pointers per game, 3.9 more made shots than the 6.8 per game USC gives up. USC has shot at a 47.0% rate from the field this season, 9.4 percentage points greater than the 37.6% shooting opponents of Illinois have averaged.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kasparas Jakucionis is averaging 16.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Fighting Illini.
Saint Thomas is averaging 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Trojans.
LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 8-2, averaging 87.6 points, 40.9 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 5.1 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.4 points per game.
Trojans: 5-5, averaging 73.8 points, 30.1 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.2 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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