Illinois began a two-game road trip to Los Angeles with its biggest margin of victory in a Big Ten road game in 80 years.
But that triumph is now in the rear-view mirror for the No. 10 Fighting Illini, who will look to take down UCLA on Saturday.
Illinois (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) routed Southern California 101-65 on Wednesday for its largest Big Ten win on enemy ground since hammering the University of Chicago 70-28 on Jan. 19, 1946.
The Illini recently stumbled with consecutive losses — their only defeats in a 16-game span — but coach Brad Underwood said he thinks his club is hitting its stride.
“It’s when you want to be playing your best,” Underwood said of late February. “It’s when you want to be mentally fresh. You’ve been through a grind, but you want to be whole, you want to be fresh. To be that is significant for us because goodness knows we’ve had a lot of turmoil with sicknesses and injuries.
“We can’t get complacent. That’s what I challenged the team within the locker room. It’s about preparation. We’ll have a very hungry UCLA team, and we have to match that intensity Saturday night.”
The Bruins (17-9, 9-6) were drubbed by an average of 26.5 points while being swept in a two-game trip to then-No. 2 Michigan last Saturday and to No. 15 Michigan State on Tuesday.
But the Bruins are a stellar 14-1 at home, with their loss coming in double overtime (98-97) against Indiana on Jan. 31.
That leaves Illinois wanting to match the effort it put up against USC when it made 13 of 29 3-point attempts and knocked down 24 of 26 free-throw tries to improve to 7-1 on the road.
Illinois’ Andrej Stojakovic returned from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury to score 22 points against the Trojans. He made 6 of 7 shots from the field while notching his sixth 20-point effort of the season.
“I was just glad to be out there,” Stojakovic said afterward. “I think when you don’t put pressure on yourself and you miss some time, your mindset kind of changes.”
Stojakovic stands second on the Illini with a 14.0 scoring average. Star freshman Keaton Wagler averages a team-best 18.1 points, while Kylan Boswell (13.9) and David Mirkovic (13.1) also are averaging over 13 per game.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin was not happy while his squad was being routed 86-56 by Michigan and 82-59 by Michigan State recently.
Cronin scorched his players for poor second-half defense against Michigan — the Wolverines were 18 of 23 (78.3%) from the field in the final 20 minutes — and was critical of his team’s preparation and effort against the Spartans.
“I didn’t like it. We don’t play hard enough,” Cronin said. “I’ve been telling you that for a long time, buddy. To be in the upper echelon of this league … we have some guys who aren’t playing to their capabilities.”
Tyler Bilodeau isn’t one of those players, as he leads UCLA in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (5.6). He scored 22 points against Michigan State for his eighth 20-point outing of the campaign.
But Bilodeau could use some consistent help, as the Bruins are struggling to find balance on offense.
“I think we just got to play smarter,” Bilodeau said. “Got to execute better. We just got to have guys making plays.”
The Bruins had won seven of nine games prior to the two dismal outings.
Illinois posted an 83-78 home win over UCLA last season. The Bruins hold a 6-5 edge in the all-time series. The first meeting was in 1949.
–Field Level Media
