Mar 24, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) drives to the basket past Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Jerkaila Jordan (2) during the first quieter of an NCAA Tournament second round game at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
The dreams of championship basketball for UCLA’s rival, USC, took a dramatic hit on Tuesday evening as the 2025 Big Ten Player of the Year JuJu Watkins suffered a torn ACL, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, forcing her to miss the rest of the tournament.
The injury occurred five minutes into the Trojans’ victorious effort against Mississippi State. As Watkins was driving to the basket, her right knee buckled, forcing Watkins to collapse to the floor in clear agony. Watkins reached to her right knee, forcing a stoppage in game play with everyone watching realizing there was a severity to the situation that was cause for major concern.
“I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “This is a human game and so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”
The Trojans, in a valiant effort, rallied as Kiki Iriafen put up a season-high 36 points in Watkins’ absence as USC won 96-59, advancing out of the second round.
“We know that we’ve got no punks in our locker room, that we have a team that’s going to step up,” Gottlieb said. “This team rallied, they rallied for [Watkins], they rallied for each other.”
Watkins, an All-American, was a thorn in UCLA’s side the entire season. Both UCLA and USC are two wins away from a rematch in the Final Four, with USC winning both regular-season matchups, leading to them winning the Big Ten regular-season title. UCLA got revenge in the Big Ten tournament final, defeating the Trojans in Indianapolis.
The win helped Cori Close edge out USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb for National Coach of the Year.
During the Trojans-Bruins’ first matchup, Watkins scored 38 points and had 11 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. In the second matchup, Watkins scored 30 points in 38 minutes.
During the Big Ten tournament title game, Watkins had 29 points in 40 minutes of work. Watkins was USC’s lead scorer in all three games.
With Watkins out, USC has a tough task ahead of them if they wish to make it to the Final Four. They take on Kansas State in the Sweet 16 and would face the winner of Oklahoma and UConn in the Elite Eight.
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Published 3 Minutes Ago|Modified 11:13 AM EDT
