No. 6 USC claimed a 71-60 upset win over No. 1 UCLA on Thursday, handing the Bruins their first loss of the season. JuJu Watkins shined with one of the best two-way performances in decades.
Watkins finished the night with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, eight blocks and a steal. That performance also included eight 3-pointers. After a bit of an offensive slump over the last month, it was exactly the performance she needed.
“It took everything,” Watkins said during her postgame interview. “It’s been a rough couple weeks for me, and to be able to kind of snap back into it and get into my rythm here at Galen versus UCLA, it’s really all I could ask for. I have the greatest teammates and I’m just glad we were able to get it done tonight.”
That was Watkins’ fifth 30-point game of the season and 19th of her career. As one of the top candidates for Player of the Year, she certainly improved her chances Thursday.
This was the first time USC and UCLA met while one of the teams was ranked No. 1. It also marked the Trojans’ first win over a No. 1 opponent since 1983, when they beat Louisiana Tech 69-67 to win the national championship. Basketball legend Cheryl Miller was part of that roster, and she was in attendance Thursday to watch her former program get the job done.
USC improved to 22-2 overall and 12-1 in the Big Ten while earning its fourth win against a top-10 opponent this season. UCLA was off to its best start in program history with a perfect record, but now dropped to 23-1 overall and 11-1 in conference play.
This was the first Battle of Los Angeles in the Big Ten and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
The game-changing moment
Thursday’s matchup was a competitive one that saw five ties and eight lead changes, but a key moment took place with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that helped USC finish the job.
Watkins got a steal and a layup to give her team a 53-52 advantage, the Trojans’ first lead since early in the third quarter. The crowd at Galen Center went wild, and it felt like the momentum had shifted despite UCLA tying it soon after with a Janiah Barker free throw.
Less than a minute later, chaos ensued under the USC basket and the Trojans had four offensive rebounds in one possession. Eventually, Kiki Iriafen managed to get to the free throw line and made both attempts.
“That, to me, was like, ‘OK, we are winning this game,'” Gottlieb said postgame.
Trojans’ supporting cast struggles
This was a good game for Watkins to shake off the sophomore slump because besides her heroics, it was a rough offensive night for the rest of the Trojans.
Watkins scored all 14 points for USC in the second quarter, and she had the only field goal for her team in the third. With three minutes remaining in the third quarter, only four other Trojans had scored and none of them had more than five points.
Watkins ended the game 12 of 24 from the field, but the rest of the team was 9 of 37. Iriafen went 4 of 14, but she still managed to tally 14 points and nine rebounds.
“JuJu was otherworldly. It was one of the best performances I’ve seen,” Gottlieb said postgame. “Other than that, we missed a couple shots and had to be incredibly gritty.”
USC’s defense steps up
UCLA is no stranger to slow starts, but Thursday’s was clearly because of USC’s defense.
The Trojans found a 14-point advantage in the first half while doing a particularly good job limiting UCLA’s leading scorer Lauren Betts, who was only 2 of 4 over the first two quarters. Betts eventually finished the game with 18 points but really had to work for it, with eight of those points coming from the free throw line.
USC finished the game strong by holding the Bruins to 2 of 16 from the field and just nine points in the fourth quarter. UCLA typically averages around 15 turnovers per game, but Thursday the Bruins gave up 21 points off 20 turnovers.
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