Another JuJu Watkins record can’t save No. 7 USC from loss to No. 18 Utah
JuJu Watkins continues to move up the scoring ranks at USC, but her historic game Sunday came with the Trojans dropping down the Pac-12 standings.
Watkins set the single-season freshman scoring record with 30 points to bring her season total to 705, passing Paula McGee, but made just 10 of 30 shots in a 74-68 loss to No. 18 Utah at Galen Center. She made just one of six three-pointers as the No. 7 Trojans (21-5, 11-5 Pac-12) made only four of 20 shots from distance and failed to move into sole possession of second place in the Pac-12.
“If you look at this box score, the difference is the three-point line,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said, noting that USC had six more rebounds and three fewer turnovers than Utah. “We competed. We competed, but we made too many game plan mistakes.”
JuJu Watkins broke Cheryl Miller’s USC record for most 30-point games in a season and scored 42 points in the No. 7 Trojans’ win over No. 11 Colorado.
On the day USC celebrated its six seniors, it was Utah’s star senior transfer who sealed the win.
Reigning Pac-12 player of the year Alissa Pili scored 23 points with 11 rebounds to lead Utah (20-9, 10-6) to its second win over the Trojans this year. With the crowd rocking when Watkins pulled the Trojans within four points with 1:09 remaining, Pili drove around USC forward and former teammate Rayah Marshall and laid in a basket that quieted the crowd of 7,129. The loss was USC’s first in eight games and left the Trojans tied for second in the conference with Oregon State with two games left. The winner of the UCLA-Colorado game on Monday will also be tied for second.
After starting her career with the Trojans, winning Pac-12 freshman of the year in 2020, Pili could have experienced senior day at USC on Sunday .
Before the game, USC honored seniors McKenzie Forbes, Kayla Padilla, Kaitlyn Davis, Kayla Williams, Roxane Makolo and India Otto in a brief ceremony that already had tears flowing. The emotions may have played into USC’s slow start. The Trojans scored just six points during the first quarter.
Gottlieb acknowledged the Trojans were “on the struggle bus” offensively. Watkins especially couldn’t find a rhythm, missing her first five shots. She asked to sub out of game for long stretches during the first half before getting an IV for extra fluids during halftime. She didn’t make a jump shot until the 6:40 mark of the fourth quarter.
With their freshman phenom struggling, USC’s seniors stepped up.
Off the bench, Williams played suffocating defense at the top of USC’s press. Forbes had 10 points and four assists. Davis, a transfer from Columbia, had 13 points and eight rebounds, including five offensive boards. She scored 10 points in the third quarter that helped USC come back from a nine-point deficit.
Gottlieb called Davis “a warrior,” emphasizing that while Sunday’s festivities were emotional before and after the game, when Gottlieb shared speeches about each senior in front of hundreds of friends, family and fans who stayed, they were not an ending. USC is in position to host the first two rounds of NCAA tournament play for the first time since the NCAA started using top-four seeds as host schools.
“Despite how this game went, this is what I came here for: to play top teams, to play top competition,” Davis said. “And that’s what we’re doing.”
Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson help USC score 10 straight points to open the second half, lifting USC to a 62-56 victory over rival UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.
Davis, a first-team All-Ivy League selection with Columbia, is one of three Ivy League transfers thriving with the Trojans. Padilla was a three-time All-Ivy selection at Penn and Forbes starred at Harvard. Yet they’ve stepped out of the spotlight to let Watkins shine. As a result, they’ve collectively lifted USC to its best season in decades.
“I think they all came here to win, they all came here to play in the NCAA tournament ... just to make their mark on this program and they have,” Gottlieb said. “How they have treated Ju, and how they have interacted with her has just been phenomenal on a lot of levels. … There seems to be an awareness that they’re playing with this phenomenal young kid in her freshman year and that will be the case forever.”
Watkins watched the videos honoring each senior after the game with her teammates wearing a red sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over her high bun. As the lights lifted after the final video, Watkins wiped away tears.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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