Here’s how Kansas State is preparing for USC without star JuJu Watkins in Sweet 16
Kansas State women’s basketball players gathered around a big screen TV and watched USC play Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament earlier this week.
Everyone in the room was talkative when the game began. The Wildcats were fresh off a thrilling victory over Kentucky, and they were eager to get a look at their next opponents in a relaxed setting before they left for the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Washington.
But a hush fell over the watch party when USC star JuJu Watkins suffered a season-ending injury minutes into the contest. No one wanted to see that, even though No. 5 seed K-State might stand a better chance of beating No. 1 seed USC without Watkins in the lineup.
“It’s just an unfortunate situation for everybody involved,” K-State point guard Serena Sundell said, “for our game and for the tournament as a whole. She is such a cool player. As soon as we saw it, we were like, ‘Oh, that’s not good.’ We would love to play against her as competitors. That’s what you want, to play against the best.”
Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists this season.
At full strength, college basketball statistician Bart Torvik would favor USC by 7.1 points against K-State on a neutral court. Without her, the betting line only favors the Trojans by 1.5. That means Watkins is worth roughly six points to the spread.
The Wildcats are no longer big underdogs as they advance to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
But it’s worth pointing out that USC demolished Mississippi State 96-59 without Watkins.
“We know that they’re a really good team without her,” Sundell said. “We can empathize with injuries and knowing how it feels to lose a really good player and (feeling) that even more for your team. But we know they’re a good team and they’re obviously smart and well coached. They’re going to have a good game plan coming in.”
How will K-State counter? Good question.
It wasn’t unusual for Watkins to play 40 minutes for the Trojans. In Big Ten games, she averaged 36.3 minutes per game and logged at least 39 minutes in six of 19 games.
“There are not a lot of clips with her not on the floor,” K-State coach Jeff Mittie said. “I’ll tell you that.”
In her absence, Kiki Iriagen erupted for 36 points against Mississippi State while Avery Howell came off the bench to score 18.
USC is not a big team. Perhaps K-State star center Ayoka Lee can exploit that on the inside. But the Trojans do have an abundance of talent on the perimeter. K-State guards Jaelyn Glenn, Taryn Sides and Sundell will be challenged on defense.
“We will just do the best we can with what they run,” Mittie said. “My guess is they’re not going to get too far away, but somebody’s got to take those minutes and we’ll take a look at all the rotations that they use.”
Lee thinks it will be necessary for K-State to slow the game down and make USC try to score out of half-court sets.
“Rebounding and transition will be big for us,” Lee said. “They (score a lot) in transition. So we will definitely have to set our defense. That will be a big, intentional part of our game plan.”
Bottom line: K-State will need to play well to survive and advance, no matter who is on the floor for USC.
“It’s unfortunate what JuJu is going through, but we know they are still a really good opponent,” Temira Poindexter said. “We know we’re going to have to go out there and stay focused and not let any of that affect us and just go out there and do us. Really, we just need to focus on ourselves.”
Sweet 16 Game Details
K-State Wildcats vs. USC Trojans
When: 7 p.m. on Saturday
Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington
TV: ESPN
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: USC by 1.5
Over/under: 140.5