USC shakes off slow start to rout UNC Greensboro | College News

JuJu Watkins winced, shaking her left hand, the collective basketball world holding its breath. The first 10 minutes of USC’s match debut had been disconcerting enough already. Errant passes sailed away. Makeable jumpers clanked away. And No. 16-seed North Carolina Greensboro, having promised to “shock the world,” was on the very least making life tough on the top-seeded Trojans.

Then, their star sophomore went up for a rebound early within the second quarter and emerged from beneath the ring wincing with ache, an image that might inevitably conjure ideas of the worst potential situation.

Watkins would ultimately shake away the ache. A smothering USC press would ultimately put a stop to Greensboro’s plucky start. And the Trojans would ultimately roll by their first-round opponent with a convincing 71-25 win, transferring on to the NCAA match’s second spherical the place they’ll face whoever wins on Saturday afternoon between California and Mississippi State.

That’s not to say it all the time seemed fairly. After the Trojans shook off a slow start, their offense nonetheless wasn’t working anyplace close to its peak. Watkins scored 22, however outdoors of their star, the Trojans shot 19 of 55 from the sector.

Even as USC’s bigs towered over most of Greensboro’s lineup, the Sixteenth-seeded Spartans nonetheless managed to make life tough for Kiki Iriafen, doubling her on entry passes and matching her physicality across the basket. The third staff All-American wouldn’t rating her first level till a jiffy remained within the first half. She completed with 13 factors to go along with 13 rebounds.

It was USC’s protection that finally made the distinction. With the Trojans main by simply a bucket, early within the second quarter, coach Lindsay Gottlieb enacted a full-court press, and USC flew into motion, disrupting every possession from there.

Greensboro didn’t rating a single bucket from the sector within the second quarter, because it struggled mightily simply to get the ball previous halfcourt. In the third quarter, it made a single three-pointer … and nothing else from the sector.

By that time, the Trojans have been already rolling onto the second spherical. Their protection would permit solely 17 factors complete after a irritating first quarter. Greensboro would shoot a meager 13%, the worst price by any USC opponent this season.

Watkins would briefly go away the courtroom within the third quarter, limping to the locker room after rolling an ankle. But she’d return to end the sport, permitting the USC devoted to exhale as soon as again.

USC guards JuJu Watkins and Kennedy Smith have a good time during their rout of UNC Greensboro in an NCAA match first-round sport Saturday at Galen Center.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Still, the irritating start was enough to give some pause, as USC seemed nothing like a No. 1 seed with Final Four aspirations out of the gate Saturday. They have been sloppy with the ball, committing three turnovers within the first three minutes. They struggled to exploit their vital dimension benefit on the inside — or to knock down a lot of something from the perimeter. Two minutes into the second quarter, their lead over the Spartans stood at simply two factors.

But that’s the place the stalemate stopped. Soon enough, USC was transferring on, one sport nearer to the place its season has all the time been main.