No. 3 UCLA hosts McKenzie and No. 25 Illinois

By Canadian Press on February 19, 2025.

Illinois Fighting Illini (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) at UCLA Bruins (24-1, 12-1 Big Ten)

Los Angeles; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 25 Illinois visits No. 3 UCLA after Adalia McKenzie scored 23 points in Illinois’ 77-68 win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The Bruins have gone 11-0 at home. UCLA is fifth in college basketball with 40.2 rebounds led by Lauren Betts averaging 9.9.

The Fighting Illini are 11-4 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois averages 72.2 points and has outscored opponents by 12.5 points per game.

UCLA makes 48.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.9 percentage points higher than Illinois has allowed to its opponents (39.6%). Illinois averages 16.3 more points per game (72.2) than UCLA allows (55.9).

The Bruins and Fighting Illini meet Thursday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Betts is scoring 19.5 points per game and averaging 9.9 rebounds for the Bruins. Londynn Jones is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Genesis Bryant is shooting 38.2% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Fighting Illini, while averaging 14.8 points and 3.7 assists. Kendall Bostic is shooting 50.8% and averaging 16.2 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 9-1, averaging 74.5 points, 37.9 rebounds, 20.2 assists, 6.3 steals and 6.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.3 points per game.

Fighting Illini: 9-1, averaging 72.1 points, 31.7 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 4.3 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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