LOS ANGELES — USC named a pair of “fans of the game” late Wednesday night from the two dozen or so that remained in the student section at the Galen Center.
They weren’t the last two USC fans standing, but most had headed for the exits long before their opportunity to wind up on the videoboard hanging above Jim Sterkel Court. That left a majority of Illinois fans still in the stands when the final seconds ticked off the 10th-ranked Illini’s 101-65 victory.
Cheers. Applause. Some “I-L-L, I-N-I” call and response.
The orange- and blue-clad fans among the announced crowd of 7,327 that stuck around until the final horn sounded had plenty to cheer about. That there were hundreds of them to do so wasn’t exactly a surprise.
“I’ve got the best job in the country, and a large piece of that is our fans and their support,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “It was great at the hotel to see so many. I love when (director of operations) Joey Biggs sends out that we don’t have any more tickets. I can’t say thank you enough.”
Kylan Boswell was one of two Illinois players with experience at the Galen Center. The senior guard played at USC twice during his two seasons at Arizona. The crowd for those games was decked out in cardinal and gold.
“Seeing how well we’re traveling is pretty surreal,” said Boswell who claimed 10 percent of the Illinois fans given the number of friends and family he had in attendance. The Champaign native played moved to the Los Angeles area in high school.
“It’s another great thing about Illinois basketball is just how much our fans love us and care about us,” Boswell continued. “It’s pretty crazy to see we’re all the way in California and there’s more orange and blue than SC red.”
USC coach Eric Musselman weighed in on the heavy Illinois fan presence at the Galen Center after his team’s 36-point defeat. Sort of.
“I’ve only been here for a year-and-a-half,” Musselman told reporters. “Right now, I’ve got to try to figure out how to beat Oregon (on Saturday), but, yeah, there was a lot of Illinois fans for sure.”
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That Andrej Stojakovic made the trip to Los Angeles was a fairly positive sign the Illinois junior guard would be cleared to play against either USC or UCLA (and likely both).
Stojakovic suffered a high ankle sprain early in what turned into an overtime loss at Michigan State for the Illini and missed both the Wisconsin and Indiana games last week. Underwood said after Sunday’s win against the Hoosiers he would consider leaving Stojakovic in Champaign if that sped up the recovery process.
That proved unnecessary, with Stojakovic returning to practice Monday, building on that Tuesday and then scoring a game-high 22 points in just 18 minutes against USC.
“Man, it’s been mentally hard, but (athletic trainer Justin Games) and (strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher) have done a great job of keeping me mentally ready,” Stojakovic said. “I was just glad to be out there. I think when you don’t put pressure on yourself and you miss some time, your mindset kind of changes. Obviously, it sucks to miss time, but mentally there was something about it. Like the beginning of the year with my knee injury. Missing the first two games and missing these two last games, it felt good to be back out there.”
The primary question mark for Stojakovic heading into Wednesday’s game was his level of conditioning. Being hobbled by a sprained ankle makes staying in game shape a challenge. The 6-foot-7 guard ultimately played the eighth-fewest minutes among Illinois’ primary eight-man rotation.
“I was probably a little more concerned about conditioning with him than anything because it’s not where you can just go get your cardiovascular back in a short time,” Underwood said. “I was kind of watching his minutes, but I thought he played with great energy and great excitement.”
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Stojakovic might have led Illinois’ seven-strong group in double figures, but Boswell had the most highlight reel-worthy two points of the game. His follow-up tip dunk on a Keaton Wagler miss late in the first half stunned part of the Galen Center crowd into silence and sent the others into a frenzy.
“That’s the way I did it back in 1986,” Underwood joked. “Now, if I could just get him to really like that and enjoy that moment and do it a little more often. We haven’t had many tip dunks this year. Our 7-footers don’t get them, so we might as well have our point guard get them.”
Boswell said he saw a USC big man move on help defense with Keaton Wagler attacking the basket, leaving the back side of the play wide open. That was the path to the rim Boswell needed in case Wagler missed.
“I came in and just happened to catch it and dunk the (crap) out of it,” Boswell said.
Boswell finished the tip dunk with his right hand. The same right hand that had a broken bone in it a month ago and now has pins and a metal plate to keep it together.
“That definitely hurt a little bit,” Boswell said. “I feel like the vibration of the rim made it hurt a little bit, but throughout the rest of the game it went away. It’s a pretty thick pad. We’re trying our best to figure out ways to keep my palm as open as much as we can. For the protection aspect, if it gets hit, I just need that padding still.”
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Boswell was one of the seven Illini in double figures with 12 points. Eight assists proved even more impactful on the offensive. That Boswell was playing at that level in his just his second game back — heavily wrapped and padded shooting hand and all — didn’t surprise Stojakovic.
“Any player who has to have that on his hand, there’s going to be difficulties, but he’s a dog,” Stojakovic said. “He got used to it in practice, carried it over into the game and he’s as confident as ever because he work this butt off.”
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The other five Illinois players in double figures Wednesday against USC were David Mirkovic (14 points), Jake Davis (12 points), Ben Humrichous (11 points) and Tomislav Ivisic and Wagler with 10 points apiece.
The Illini shot 52 percent overall, 45 percent from three-point range and 92 percent at the free throw line and hit triple digits on the scoreboard — the first Big Ten to do so this century — because of an offense that still ranks first nationally from an efficiency standpoint.
Illinois scored 1.464 points per possessions with extraordinary balance in the win against USC.
“They really don’t care who scores,” Underwood said. “I think it’s something we have taken a lot of pride in all year talking about. It’s just simply based on what the defense gives us.”
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Mirkovic has learned how to exploit those varied defensive coverages. The newest go-to option in his arsenal is a perimeter shot fake into a dribble drive. Defenders have to respect his shotmaking as a 39.4 percent shooter from deep, and if they bite on a the shot fake he’s strong enough with just the right amount of quickness to get to the rim and finish.
“He’s not doing it with his blazing speed, but his skill set is off the chart,” Underwood said. “He is a very, very good shooter. I’m shocked when he misses. That little shot fake is a nice tool. People have to close to that, yet he’s very gifted and we saw him dime some people up.”