It wasn’t always pretty, but No. 1-seeded USC got it done Saturday night — sneaking past fifth-seeded Kansas State 67-61 to advance to its second consecutive Elite Eight. Without superstar sophomore guard JuJu Watkins, the Trojans often looked unsure of where to go with the ball — especially down the stretch — but were able to muster just enough offense to pull out an enormous victory.

Despite Watkins’ absence after suffering a torn ACL against Mississippi State (22-12, 7-9 SEC) in the Round of 32, the Trojans (31-3, 17-1 Big Ten) made sure her presence was felt in Spokane. 

The entire team and coaching staff arrived at the arena sporting Nike shirts featuring Watkins’ face, and her signature Funko Pop doll was carefully watching the battle from the bench. Watkins, who hosted a family watch party at her apartment, also FaceTimed her teammates in the locker room after the game to celebrate the win.

Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.

“We’re supporting her from here, and we’re taking her competitive nature on the court every single time we step there,” said freshman guard Avery Howell in a postgame press conference. “We know that she’s back home supporting us, having a watch party, and doing everything she can to give us that good juju, you could say.”

“That was so corny,” fellow freshman guard Kennedy Smith quipped in response.

Corny or not, the two freshmen stepped up in a major way in Watkins’ absence — leading the Trojans on both ends of the floor. Howell and Smith had a combined 37 points on extremely efficient shooting, swiped seven steals and suffocated the Wildcat backcourt with their relentless on-ball defense. The two teenagers were the best players on the court in a game featuring several veteran players with years of NCAA Tournament experience. 

It was a coming-out party in particular for Howell, who made just the second start of her collegiate career — replacing Watkins in the lineup — and had her best game as a Trojan. Her 37 minutes, 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals all set or tied career highs. While the task of replacing Watkins in USC’s lineup is impossible, Howell did just about as well as Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb could have possibly asked of her. 

“I’m not necessarily trying to do exactly what [Watkins] does because I don’t think anyone can really replicate what she does for our team. But I think I’m trying to take her competitive mindset and I feel like she’s everywhere on the court when she was with us,” Howell said. “So I’m trying to fill in at least that competitive mindset, that dawg mentality that I think she has.”

While the freshmen did enough to get USC over the finish line, it is notable that they were forced to lead the way because their veteran teammates simply did not show up on the offensive end. The three most experienced Trojans — graduate forward Kiki Iriafen, graduate guard Talia von Oelhoffen and senior center Rayah Marshall — shot a combined 1-16 from the floor in the first half and 8-29 for the game. 

It was a disappointing outing for Iriafen, in particular. The 21-year-old dominated the Bulldogs after the injury to Watkins — racking up 36 points on 16-22 shooting — but could not get going Saturday. The Trojans still had enough to eke out Kansas State (28-8, 13-5 Big 12), but will need a completely different version of Iriafen to have a prayer of shocking UConn (34-3, 18-0 Big East) on Monday. 

“They did a great job of doubling and trying to limit our paint points …. For me, [going forward], it’s just watching film, seeing where I’m getting the ball and how I can impact my teammates,” Iriafen said. “[But] a lot of our guards are more than capable of taking over … I’ve been saying all season, one through 15, we have so much talent. Nobody believed me, but I think you’re seeing it now.”

While USC at times looked lost on the offensive end without the easy offense of Watkins, Gottlieb did an exceptional job getting into sets to generate open looks. They simply weren’t going in early — the Trojans shot 29.7% from the field in the first half — but the positive regression eventually came, and USC put together a solid 20 minutes of offense to close out the Wildcats.

“We put in a couple new things this week, but I didn’t, like, retool the whole offense. It was more going deeper in the bag of what options are we going to get out of our looks,” Gottlieb said. “Obviously [Watkins] is such an incredible shotmaker, playmaker that you don’t often have to get to the back end of something because she can just create … So if we get to the fourth look [on a play], no one’s ever seen it — not least of all me — because we haven’t had to get there.”

While Gottlieb’s creativity sparked the offense somewhat, the Trojans won the game with their grit and discipline on the defensive end. USC had its third-worst scoring outing of the season Saturday, but made up for it by forcing 16 turnovers and holding the Wildcats, whose 79.5 points per game led the Big 12, to just 61 points. The Trojans were particularly impressive on the interior, holding star graduate center Ayoka Lee to just 12 points. 

“I think the team effort comes in the way of [Marshall] and [fellow senior center Clarice Akunwafo] as a tandem guarding Lee — who’s such a tough matchup,” Gottlieb said. “[That] allowed us to guard the 3-point line more easily, and I thought our perimeter defense was terrific.”

While an Elite Eight bid is an enormous accomplishment in its own right, the road gets a lot tougher from here. The No. 2-seeded Huskies — currently the odds-on favorites to win the National Championship according to FanDuel Sportsbook — beat Oklahoma 82-59 a few hours before USC took the court.

Superstar redshirt senior guard Paige Bueckers lit up Spokane Arena with a career-high 40 points on 16-27 shooting. An aggressive Bueckers is a scary sight, and without Watkins to counter it, the Trojans will have a tall task on their hands.

“What we’re seeing a little differently now, and I think [UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma] said it yesterday, it’s an urgency,” Gottlieb said. “Not that she’s not been urgent before, but you see it on her face — there’s no more waiting, it can’t be next time, it’s right now. I think you’re seeing the urgency of a senior trying to achieve her goals.”

Without Watkins, Gottlieb will hope that Smith, one of the best on-ball defenders in the country, can be the Bueckers stopper. 

“[Smith’s] a great defender. You would think she’s not a freshman the way she plays defense — her mentality, her tenacity, her length, her agility, her speed, her lateral movement,” Bueckers said. “She does a really good job of anticipating as well … I don’t know who she’ll be matched up against, but she does a great job defensively.” 

Slowing down Bueckers and UConn’s high-powered offense is an enormous challenge, but it’s one that USC, with its big, physical guards and dynamic post players, is as prepared for as any other team in the nation.

The Trojans and Huskies will face off Monday at 6 p.m. at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena with a spot in the Final Four on the line. With Watkins out, several players will have the opportunity to step up on the biggest stage and lead the Trojans to a truly stunning upset.

“People say, take it one game at a time, one play at a time,” Auriemma said. “We preach that, but in reality, some players are going to rise to the occasion and some are going to shrink. It’s just the nature of it.”