The No. 2 Bruins and No. 3 Trojans had an epic first clash on Feb. 13, with JuJu Watkins delivering a signature performance as USC beat its rival in front of its home fans. The second game will take place at UCLA. Just like the first matchup at the Galen Center, an electric environment is expected; it will be a sell-out crowd at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA and USC have had little trouble in their first season in the Big Ten. Saturday’s winner can cap off an incredible regular season with a championship and generate momentum as March Madness approaches. Based on Thursday’s selection committee rankings, each team has national championship aspirations and is in prime position to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s for all the marbles here,” said USC forward Rayah Marshall.

Before the big-time Saturday night feature, here are the top storylines and keys to the game, which has been sold out since Feb 12:

USC handed 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts and UCLA their first and only loss of the season in their first meeting. Robert Hanashiro/Imagn Images

Big Ten regular-season title is on the line

At 16-1 each in conference play and tied atop the standings, Saturday’s game will be for the Big Ten regular-season title.

“The UCLA rivalry game is always a big game,” said USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. “But now I think the stakes that are on it nationally and, for the first Big Ten regular-season championship, it has a little bit of an elevated feel for sure.”

USC’s recent dominance over UCLA

It’s been the Trojans’ city recently; USC has won three straight over its rival. Watkins lost her first matchup against the Bruins in December 2023, but hasn’t lost since.

Marshall, a senior, said she wants to set the groundwork for the freshmen to never “have the feeling of losing to their rivals” and be “the top dogs in L.A.“

The winning streak against UCLA is a refreshing sight for USC, which had little success against the Bruins before Watkins’ arrival on campus. Prior to USC’s three-game winning streak, UCLA had won nine straight against the Trojans and 18 of 21 meetings.

How does UCLA stop JuJu Watkins?

A major reason for USC’s success against UCLA? You guessed it; it starts with Watkins.

The hometown kid has been a Bruin killer. In the last three meetings, she’s averaged 34.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.3 blocks and 3 assists per game. In the first meeting this season, she had a historic performance with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a career-high eight blocks. She became the first player this century — at either the NBA, WNBA, or Div I men’s and women’s level — to have a game with 35-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, five-plus assists, five-plus blocks and five-plus made 3-pointers, according to OptaStats.

If the Bruins want to finally best the Trojans, it starts with limiting Watkins. In their first meeting, it was Londynn Jones who primarily defended Watkins, but that could change or a double-team could be in order. Another key will be to not send Watkins to the foul line; in the past three meetings, she’s shot at least 10 free throws in each game.

USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said nothing Watkins does comes as a surprise anymore, especially the way she handles the fame that has come with her burgeoning success. Watkins is averaging 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in her second college season and has been featured in TV commercials and on billboards.

“Not only does she handle it with a lot of humility and grace, but then she also finds ways to raise her own bar on her own ceiling,” Gottlieb said. “She’s so committed to getting better. I don’t know that I’ve had a player ever just look inward (asking) what can I do to help make myself better and the team better.”

Can USC limit Lauren Betts again?

In their first meeting, the Bruins surged out to a second-half lead thanks to Lauren Betts’ dominance in the paint. She scored the first seven points out of halftime and the Bruins led by seven points. It looked like UCLA would remain perfect.

After the loss, Betts said she was forcing too many shots and wasn’t doing a good enough job sealing off defenders, vowing to do better next time. Marshall said Betts got the better of her in that game and, although her teammates helped her out, her mission will be to make it another rough outing for the star center.

“As corrupt as we could be to her on the block, making her work hard, making her work for every rebound, making her have to run the floor, putting her in ball screen and whatnot, then it’d be a tough day in Pauley for her,” Marshall said.

Rare familiarity

Thanks to the size of the 18-team Big Ten, UCLA and USC played every other conference member once. The only conference opponent they’ll play twice is each other. With a full game of experience spent learning, neither side can expect to go into the matchup with the same exact game plan.

“There’s always ways that you can improve, and so we’re certainly gonna try to use the film to do better, whether that’s changing a game plan or just tweaking something that we did,” Gottlieb said.

Several players on each side are friends. Marshall said she’s good friends with Betts, and USC forward Kiki Iriafen and Betts were teammates together at Stanford. Marshall said there’s been some friendly trash talk between both sides.

But there’s certainly a bigger feel to this matchup. Watkins said her goal at USC was to get the rivalry with UCLA up to the same intensity with the fanbase as it is in football. She’s noticed the energy has been raised at USC, and it’s likely to be the same at UCLA with a sold-out crowd.

And this might not be the last time these two teams see each other this season. They could meet again in the Big Ten tournament final, and there’s a possibility they play again in the NCAA Tournament − likely in the Final Four or national championship game.

“March is madness. You never know what’s capable in March,” Marshall said. “We have a plan for tonight and sticking to that is our primary thing to do here,” Marshall said after Thursday’s practice. “They haven’t lost a game at home. So, we are looking to come into Pauley Pavilion and cause an upset.”

“It’s an incredible spot to be in, to be in a championship game on the last day of the regular season and to be able to control our own destiny,” Gottlieb said. “We don’t have to wait and hope somebody else loses. It’s at our fingertips. And yet it’s a very hard task because UCLA is really good too. But it’s an incredible thing that I definitely don’t take for granted.”

usatoday.com

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