On the road, in a rival’s sold-out arena, with the conference title and NCAA Tournament seeding implications on the line, the USC Trojans oozed confidence. Even as they endured several players dealing with foul trouble, even as the UCLA Bruins cut the deficit to two possessions in the third quarter, Lindsay Gottlieb’s team never flinched.
The reason why, it seemed to be, was because they had JuJu Watkins and their opponent did not.
On national television Saturday night and in front of a crowd that included basketball royalty and celebrities – from Trojans’ legend Cheryl Miller to singer John Legend – USC captured the Big Ten regular season title in its first season in the league, defeating UCLA for the second time this year, 80-67.
Powered by Watkins’ eye-popping stat line of 30 points, three rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks, USC will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins in Indianapolis next week.
The win probably cements USC as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as well.
And for Watkins, against her main competition for the award in UCLA’s Lauren Betts, the victory and her performance in it likely cements her as the National Player of the Year in women’s college basketball.
The 19-year-old sophomore, a native of Los Angeles who chose to stay home to help restore the Trojans to prominence, started the game off on an absolute heater. Watkins made three of her first five 3-point attempts, including the game’s opening points which she scored by pulling up from the top of the key, draining the deep shot as a Bruins’ defender closed in on her.
Late in the second quarter, Watkins showed off her elite combination of handles, body control and determination as she drove toward the rim – taking UCLA’s Angela Dugalic along for the ride – and fought through a foul to sink a layup. A few moments later, after USC collected an offensive rebound, Watkins sank a second-chance 3-pointer to put the Trojans ahead by 14 at the break.
At intermission, Watkins had 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and just a single turnover in 19 minutes of work.
“She’s the best player in the country,” Gottlieb said during her halftime interview on FOX. “I’m not surprised what she’s capable of.”
Meanwhile, Betts struggled in the first half, finishing with just four points on 2-of-6 shooting. The 6-foot-7 junior often failed to get deep positioning in the paint, and when she did catch the ball within range, she was double-teamed and forced to grapple with physical defending by the Trojans. The referees did not show mercy, sending Betts to the line just once in the first half where she missed both attempts.
But while USC piled up points in the first half, they also stacked up fouls too. Entering the third quarter, Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen – the Trojans’ pair of prized offseason acquisitions – had three fouls apiece while Kennedy Smith and Rayah Marshall each had two. Watkins was the only player to score in double figures in the first half, and the circumstances that her fellow starters had found themselves in forced her to continue to carry the load in the final two frames.
And she did not disappoint.
UCLA trimmed the deficit to four points midway through the third quarter, but USC responded with a 7-0 run that was capped off with Watkins connecting on a fastbreak layup, stepping through Betts and another defender on her way to the rim.
The game seemed over when USC went on a 12-3 run early in the fourth quarter to go ahead by 20 points. But Watkins had one more highlight-worthy play in her bag. With teh contest essentially wrapped up – USC leading by 17 points with 1:04 to play – she didn’t quit, stuffing Gabriela Jacquez’s shot in the paint, then raising her hand to point in the other direction, letting it linger there to inform the Pauley Pavilion crowd that not only did possession belong to the Trojans, but they were about to celebrate a championship in their gym.
After her arm fell, Watkins flashed a smile and slapped hands with an ecstatic Miller, who was sitting courtside.
Watkins’ fingerprints were all over this win. She never seemed to rattle, never turned down a big shot and never shied away from the moment. It was another example of how Watkins seems to always play her best in the most crucial games. Perhaps none have been more important so far this season than this one – a regular season finale between two AP-ranked top five teams with a conference crown on the line – but this is simply what Watkins does when the lights are at their brightest.
Consider that against nine ranked opponents this season, Watkins is averaging 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. Aside from her steals (2.1 per game) all of those averages are higher than her total per-game numbers across the season.
“Her talent is off the charts,” Gottlieb said during her postgame interview. “… She has stuff no one can teach.”
Betts finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She didn’t seem to have an answer for the Trojans’ swarming defense, and she and her teammates never really figured out how to slow down Watkins – which has been the case for almost every team USC has played this season, aside from Notre Dame and Iowa.
Watkins embraced the spotlight and USC seized the opportunity. They’ve swept UCLA, dealing the Bruins their only two losses of the season so far.
With the best player in the sport leading the way, USC looks like a legitimate contender for the national title.
