Without JuJu Watkins, USC faces daunting Sweet 16 challenge against Kansas State

New York Times

27-03-2025

JuJu Watkins, the superstar USC guard who sustained a season-ending knee injury in the second round, is out for the rest of the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans announced late Monday night that Watkins will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation.
That leaves the top-seeded Trojans with the unenviable task of moving ahead in the NCAA Tournament without their star, who is arguably the best player in the nation.
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USC will meet No. 5 seed Kansas State in Spokane on Saturday in a matchup that suddenly looks much different than it did on Monday morning. Without Watkins on the floor, the Trojans are a fundamentally different team against the Wildcats, who are in a prime position to pull off the upset.
With that in mind, here are five things to know about Kansas State heading into the weekend:
Kansas State has no problem scoring and will keep USC's defense on its toes early and often.
The Wildcats' 2,781 points this season are a school record and their best mark since 1979-80. Kansas State is averaging 79.5 points per game, which ranks 13th nationally, and is right on par with the Trojans, who average 81.6.
It all starts with point guard Serena Sundell, who is arguably the best facilitator in the game right now as the Wildcats' career assists leader. Sundell, a senior, leads the country with 256 assists and is averaging a nation-best 7.3 per game. In wins against Fairfield in Round 1 and Kentucky in Round 2, she dished out 23 total assists, including 14 against Kentucky for a school record in an NCAA Tournament game. Kansas State's elite 1.67 assist/turnover ratio ranks second nationally behind only UConn and is a major reason the Wildcats have sustained success as one of the nation's most explosive offenses.
And of course, there's the 3-point shooting.
Just let T do her thing #MarchMadness x @tPoindexter21 pic.twitter.com/WlJqeLa4Lh
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) March 24, 2025
Kansas State has knocked down 38.77 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc, which ranks second nationally behind Notre Dame. In the overtime win against No. 4 Kentucky on the Wildcats' own floor on Sunday, senior forward Temira Poindexter went 8 of 15 from deep for 24 points, to go along with six rebounds and a career-high six blocks. That type of versatility will challenge USC.
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In addition to Poindexter, two other Kansas State players are shooting 40-plus percent from 3: guards Jaelyn Glenn (9.7 points per game) and Taryn Sides (9.5 per game).
'That's been a big key to our success this year,' coach Jeff Mittie said. 'We've got Sides, Poindexter, Jaelyn Glenn — all have made over 65 3s this year. That was the goal going into the year, and we think that has made us better.'
USC just received the most devastating news of its season, but the Wildcats are getting healthy at just the right time.
Star center Ayoka Lee, the Wildcats' top scorer and rebounder with 15.6 points and 6.4 boards per game, is back in action after missing 14 games with a fractured foot sustained in January. Lee eased back in against Fairfield with just 15 minutes of work, but scored 17 points and played a crucial role in Kansas State's overtime thriller against Kentucky with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 28 minutes. You may remember the Minnesota native from 2022, when she dropped 61 points on Oklahoma and broke the NCAA record for points in a game.
Lee has scored 15 or more points in 13 of the 21 games she has played this season, including finishing with 34 against New Mexico State in December and 28 against Creighton in November. At 6-foot-6, she's got two inches on USC forward/center Rayah Marshall and three inches on star forward Kiki Iriafen, USC's unquestioned leader now that Watkins is unavailable. Trojans senior center Clarice Akunwafo can match Lee from a size perspective, but Akunwafo is averaging just 9.9 minutes per game, meaning Marshall will have to take the lead here.
'I don't think you guys got to witness, when we have Lee, how good this team can be,' Mittie said. 'She's a factor at both ends of the floor. She offensively makes people pay attention.
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'Lee back from a basketball perspective is huge, but Lee back from a communicator on the floor, she's one of the best communicators I've ever coached. She's one of the best — she sees things well — and I think that gives us a lot of confidence to also go to the next play.'
If the Wildcats have a kryptonite, it's the foul line.
Kansas State's 71.9 percent clip from the free-throw line ranks No. 158 nationally. Just one player — Sides — is shooting above 80 percent, while Lee is shooting just 67.2 percent.
The Wildcats haven't played in many close games this season, but as Alabama's Sarah Ashlee Barker showed Monday night, March and April are when free throws matter more than ever. USC fouls a decent amount at 16.2 times per game. Kansas State must take advantage if it wants to play spoiler.
Taylor's scoring is down this year compared to her numbers at Missouri State last year and in 2022-23. She averaged 12.3 points per game as a sophomore and 10.7 points per game as junior before averaging 7.3 points per game this year as a senior with the Wildcats.
But Taylor is playing some of her best basketball down the stretch, scoring in double figures in three of her last four games, including 21 points against West Virginia in a four-point loss in the Big 12 tournament. With 11 points against Kentucky, she joined the 1,000-point club for her career.
Taylor, who helped fill in the gaps in Lee's absence, also hauled in eight rebounds against Kentucky and can come off the bench to give the Wildcats a spark and a set of fresh legs as Lee continues to work her way back.
Ain't it sweet?#MarchMadness x #EMAW👌 pic.twitter.com/sqxVtfef3I
— K-State Women's Basketball (@KStateWBB) March 24, 2025
Regardless of what happens against the Trojans, it has been a dominant season for the Wildcats, who are in the Sweet 16 for just the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2002.
Mittie, in his 33rd season of coaching and 11th year at Kansas State, is coaching in his sixth NCAA Tournament with the Wildcats. An Elite Eight would be their first since 1982. This time last year, they lost to No. 5 Colorado at home and did not make it out of the tournament's first weekend.
'I'm excited for our group. I once again knew we were capable of getting here. I'm proud of this group, and we want to keep going as far as we can,' Sundell said.
(Top photo of Temira Poindexter: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)