No. 4 USC Trojans win Big Ten title with season sweep of No. 2 UCLA
The USC Trojans had two gigantic opportunities staring them in the face heading into Saturday evening’s crosstown showdown. With a win over the No. 2 UCLA Bruins, the Trojans would not only lock up a season sweep of their rival, but would claim the Big Ten regular-season title in their first year in the conference.
It was mission accomplished on both fronts as the Trojans never trailed in beating the Bruins 80-67, recording a win against UCLA for the second time in three weeks.
JuJu Watkins finished with 30 points, five assists, three rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Kiki Iriafen had 17 points and nine rebounds. And USC held UCLA to just 36.1% shooting from the floor while shooting 48.5% themselves.
The Trojans got out to a 13-2 start, and while USC didn’t exactly run away with it, they responded to every UCLA charge. The Bruins closed to 23-20 at the end of the first quarter only for USC to go on a 7-0 run to open the second and take a 14-point lead into halftime.
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UCLA’s big run came in the third quarter, when the Bruins used a 16-5 run to close to within 55-51 with 3:02 remaining. But the Trojans went on a 9-0 run to close the quarter, pushing it back to a comfortable lead for the final 10 minutes.
Watkins recorded two blocks in the fourth quarter as UCLA didn’t make a shot from the floor from 6:14 remaining until 1:41 was left in the game and the Trojans held a 19-point lead.
USC will head into the Big Ten Tournament with a double-bye and the No. 1 seed. And the Trojans should be in line right now for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as well. Though, there could be a third matchup against the Bruins waiting at the end of the conference tournament, which could ultimately decide which team winds up a No. 1.
USC’s first game in the Big Ten Tournament will take place Friday in Indianapolis.
