USC Trojans' JuJu Watkins' Joins Caitlin Clark In NCAA History After Beating UCLA Bruins

The USC Trojans beat the UCLA Bruins on Saturday night 80-67 to win the Big Ten regular season title and complete a regular season sweep over the rival Bruins. Trojans' guard JuJu Watkins joined Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark as the second player in Division I basketball this century to score 30 or more points against a single team four straight times.

Feb 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) reacts after scoring in the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins led the Trojans into Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night to upset the No. 2 ranked UCLA Bruins. Watkins had a game high 30 points and added five assists, three rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in the Trojans 80-67 win over the Bruins. Watkins shot 10 for 22 from the field. 

USC’s second leading scorer was forward Kiki Iriafen with 17 points. No other Trojan scored in double figures outside of Watkins and Iriafen, and it didn’t matter.  

This marks the fourth straight time Watkins has scored at least 30 points against UCLA. No other player besides Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has had that type of domination over one team this century. Clark played for Hawkeyes from 2020 through 2024 and had 10 straight 30 point plus games over Nebraska and five straight vs. Nebraska. 

Via @ESPNStatsInfo: JuJu Watkins has scored 30 points in 4-straight games vs UCLA. That's tied for the 3rd-longest streak vs. a single opponent in DI since 1999-00. The only player with a longer streak in that span is Caitlin Clark (10-straight v Nebraska, 5-straight v Minnesota)

— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) March 2, 2025

USC Star JuJu Watkins Leads Trojans To Big Ten Regular Season Title

Feb 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) dribbles against UCLA Bruins guard Londynn Jones (3) during the fourth quarter at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

JuJu Watkins has dominated the UCLA over the past two seasons. The Trojans have beat the Bruins four straight times and Watkins has scored 30 points in each of those outings. These two teams last played in mid February, where the Trojans 71-60 at the Galen Center. Watkins had 38 points.

Against UCLA on Saturday night, Watkins dominated from start to finish. The Trojans never trailed and won the outright Big Ten regular season title in their first year a member of the conference. USC finishes the regular season with a 26-2 overall record and 17-1 in conference play. 

UCLA finishes alone in second place at 27-2 overall and 16-2 in Big Ten play. Both Bruins losses were to the Trojans. 

Last season, in the final year of the Pac-12, USC and UCLA finished tied for 2nd behind the Stanford Cardinal. 

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Watkins Frontrunner To Win Wooden Player Of the Year 

Feb 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) dribbles the ball against the Michigan State Spartans in the first half at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The race for the Women’s Wooden Award looks to be just about wrapped up. After Watkins' performance head to head against Wooden Award contender, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, Watkins is now the clear favorite to win. These awards a lot of the time can be dictated off of the player’s biggest games of the season and both UCLA games in the past few weeks have been exactly that for Watkins. 

She has put up big numbers all year while also leading her team to a Big Ten championship and handing UCLA their only two losses of the entire season along the way. Watkins is now averaging 24.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game on 42.9 percent shooting from the field. 

USC appears to also be a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If they go on a run in the Big Ten tournament, the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday is certainly in reach. 

The Trojans will now get some rest on their Big Ten tournament bye before they play their quarterfinal matchup on Friday, March 7.

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