Alijah Arenas sank into a folding chair, his face buried in a towel, his breathing heavy.
For the last few days, smack dab in the middle of his long-awaited breakthrough at USC, Arenas was sick. He’d spent the last few days worn down and missed practice Tuesday, leaving his status for Wednesday night’s critical tilt with No. 10 Illinois uncertain until a few hours before. But the Trojans star freshman refused to sit out, resolving instead to tough it out against a true Big Ten contender, even if he wasn’t at 100%.
“That takes real courage,” USC forward Jacob Cofie said.
Indeed, it was a noble effort, albeit one that meant little by the time Arenas collapsed into the bench, breathless, midway through the first half Wednesday. By that point, Illinois was already rolling, well on their way to a 101-65 victory that left USC gasping for air.
“It’s pretty simple,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “We were not good enough tonight. We’ve got to get better in all aspects.”
The blowout loss would mark not only the biggest margin of defeat for the Trojans in two seasons under Musselman but also the first time USC (18-8 overall, 7-8 in the Big Ten) has given up more than 100 points in a game since 2019. It was the sort of performance, Musselman said, that should make “every player, person, coaches in the program look in the mirror.”
That it came with USC clinging to the edge of the NCAA tournament bubble only added insult to injury. Those hopes hang on how USC handles its business through the final five games of its regular season, a stretch that includes just one top-25 team and two matchups with its reeling crosstown rival, UCLA.
But at no point Wednesday night did the Trojans look like a team that could make some noise come March. Part of that diminished firepower was on account of its star freshman’s illness, as Arenas looked nothing like the player who came alive over the last two weeks. He could muster just eight points in 18 minutes. At one point, he even appeared to tweak his injured knee, forcing him to sit for a long stretch.
“It’s been the way our season has gone,” Musselman said.
His questionable health, though, couldn’t explain why USC was whalloped on the boards, losing the rebounding battle, 41-30, why it managed just a single fast break point or why it shot a paltry 25% inside the arc.
Illinois (22-5, 13-3) exploited every one of those weaknesses Wednesday, soaring out further and further in front as a sea of blue-and-orange faithful roared back and forth on either side of USC’s home arena. When the buzzer mercifully sounded, the box score made no bones about the fact the Trojans had been outworked and outclassed in almost every facet of the game.
“I feel like we made them look good today,” Cofie said.
Cofie led USC with 14 points, while Ezra Ausar had 11. But no other Trojan player scored in double digits.
While Arenas struggled, Illinois own star freshman, Keaton Wagler, was held mostly in check. He scored 10 and added four assists.
As it turned out, Illinois wouldn’t need him.
The Illini would keep pouring it on until the final minute, when Illinois’ big man Tomislav Ivisic threw down an alley-oop to push Illinois into triple digits. The crowd, filled with mostly Illini fans, roared with delight.
There wasn’t much of that for the home fans to enjoy Wednesday. Illinois flew out to an early 15-3 lead as USC stumbled out of the gate, turning the ball over four times in the first six minutes and missing seven of its first eight shots.
With its dynamic freshman depleted from flu and another starter, Chad Baker-Mazara, still out due to injury, USC struggled to find a consistent source of offense.
Just one of the Trojans’ five starters (Cofie) had more than a single made shot in the first half. Arenas, who’d scored at least 24 in each of his last three, opened this game one for six, before picking up an early second foul and heading to the bench.
Illinois, meanwhile, had no issue raining shots from long range in the first half, or speeding past USC through the lane, for that matter. While the Trojans tried to find their footing, the Illini built up a 22-point halftime lead with little resistance.
It only got uglier from there, leaving the Trojans’ tournament hopes in a tenuous place and their frustrated head coach with his own head in his hands.
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