When USC and Connecticut met within the Elite Eight, within the rapid wake of JuJu Watkins’ devastating knee damage final March, it didn’t take lengthy to see how a lot USC missed its celebrity. As exhausting because the Trojans fought, the Huskies had been merely an excessive amount of to deal with with out Watkins.
That thought, 9 months later, hadn’t been given a lot severe credence at USC via a strong 7-2 begin. Not less than, not till Saturday, when the top-ranked Huskies provided a impolite reminder by trouncing the Sixteenth-ranked Trojans, 79-51, of their residence area, the place that they had but to lose this season.
“It doesn’t really feel good,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb stated. “It’s embarrassing to get beat on your property court docket.”
Granted, Connecticut had but to lose a recreation since early final February. Coming into Saturday, it had gained its 9 video games by a median of 39 factors, dominating wherever it went.
USC guard Malia Samuels tries to dribble previous UConn guard Azzi Fudd at Galen Heart on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Occasions)
It took all of some minutes Saturday to see an identical beatdown was in retailer. When it lastly was over, lower than two hours later, USC had been outmatched in virtually each class. The Huskies shot 18% higher from the sphere. They dominated the paint (44 factors to 22) and the boards (41 to 33) and compelled seven extra turnovers than the Trojans, who struggled to deal with the Huskies’ defensive strain.
“The No. 1 workforce within the nation got here in right here as we speak,” Gottlieb stated, “and so they’re actually good.”
They definitely had been an excessive amount of for a workforce nonetheless striving to determine itself out like USC. With no presence inside and no consistency on the perimeter, the Trojans had no solutions when issues clicked into place for the Huskies, whose coach took time to wax poetic after the sport about how his workforce went 11-deep.
The identical wasn’t precisely true for the Trojans, who bought 30 factors from the veteran pair of Kennedy Smith and Londynn Jones and little else.
Watkins, who’s sitting out this whole season, may solely watch from the top of the bench because the star freshman who stepped up in her absence struggled Saturday. Jazzy Davidson had been nothing wanting terrific during the last month as she settled into her new position because the Trojans’ undisputed prime weapon.
However the freshman regarded something however settled Saturday, as Connecticut blanketed her early and infrequently. Davidson missed her first 5 photographs and managed to make solely three of 13 general, scoring 10 factors, her lowest output since USC’s loss to South Carolina.
“She’s solely going to get higher for having these experiences early in her profession,” Gottlieb stated.
By the point Davidson had hit her first jumper of the afternoon, early within the second quarter, the Trojans had already dug a 12-point gap. By the point USC scored one other bucket, the Connecticut lead had ballooned to 19.
It was as much as 22 as Davidson looked for a ultimate shot within the waning seconds of the primary half. When she lastly lifted up for a floater, Connecticut ahead Serah Williams was ready. She swatted the shot again into the freshman’s face and Davidson fell to the ground because the buzzer sounded.
It proved to be a becoming picture from a day to neglect for USC.
It was ugly from the beginning. Connecticut harassed USC with full-court strain, forcing turnovers on the Trojans’ personal finish. Once they did make it throughout half court docket, the Huskies swarmed the perimeter, leaving USC with out many open photographs.
The Trojans managed to carry tight with the defending champions for a short while. They led 9-8 on the 5:14 mark of the primary quarter. However then Connecticut’s protection ratched up. The photographs cease falling. The Huskies went on a 15-0 run to finish the primary quarter, as USC failed to attain for 5 minutes.
“The sport definitely did change,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma stated. “It simply felt like we had been locked in.”
Davidson made a jumper early within the second to place a cease to the hunch, just for the Trojans’ offense to go chilly once more. Connecticut held USC scoreless for six extra minutes after that because it ripped off one other run, extending its result in 22 at halftime.
USC guard Juju Watkins, who’s recovering from a torn ACL, stands with teammates in the course of the Trojans’ lopsided loss to UConn Saturday on the Galen Heart.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Occasions)
Any hope of a miracle comeback was extinguished mere minutes after halftime, as Connecticut as soon as once more mounted a run. It was virtually 5 minutes into the third quarter earlier than Londynn Jones lastly made the Trojans’ first shot of the half.
By then, there was no extra suspense of the place Saturday was heading.
The query now could be the place the blowout loss, the Trojans’ worst since January 2023, leaves them with the majority of their Large Ten slate starting in simply two weeks’ time. No. 4 UCLA awaits on Jan. 3.
“Video games like this are the place you study a lot,” Jones stated. “We are able to’t do something in regards to the previous. What are we going to do transferring ahead?”
