JuJu Watkins Scores 21 in Her First Game in 588 Days as No. 3 USC Beats UNLV 100-68

Photo: USC Athletics. Official roster headshot of JuJu Watkins, guard, USC women's basketball, 2026-27 season.

JuJu Watkins scored 21 points on 9-of-22 shooting in 25 minutes as No. 3 USC beat UNLV 100-68 on Monday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, her first game since tearing her right ACL in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The gap was 588 days by our count, from March 24, 2025, to Nov. 2, 2026. USC plays No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 15 in Greenville.

She added five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, and she did not commit a turnover. She made 3 of 4 free throws and missed all five of her 3-point tries. USC never needed her in the fourth quarter.

588 days and an 18-14 season in between

The injury came five minutes into a second-round game against Mississippi State at the Galen Center, and she did not return. USC won that game 96-59 and finished 31-4 with a second straight Elite Eight, and Watkins swept the national player of the year awards that spring, including the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award and AP Player of the Year.

Then she redshirted 2025-26. USC went 18-14 and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Across town, UCLA beat South Carolina 79-51 in the national title game.

The last full season she played, she averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 33.9 minutes, and USC earned a No. 1 seed. The next season, the same program won 13 fewer games.

Where the 22 shots came from

The UNLV play-by-play tags every attempt by location. Here is how her 22 shots break down, by our count.

| Shot type | FG | Points | | --- | --- | --- | | In the paint | 8-15 | 16 | | Two-pointers outside the paint | 1-2 | 2 | | 3-pointers | 0-5 | 0 | | Free throws | 3-4 | 3 | | Total | 9-22 | 21 |

Fifteen of her 22 shots came in the paint. Her first points came on an and-one layup at the 5:50 mark of the first quarter.

Seven of her attempts came on possessions that started with a UNLV turnover, and she made five of them for 10 points, by our count. On every other possession, she went 4 of 15. UNLV turned it over 24 times, USC had 13 steals, and the Trojans won points off turnovers 32-7, per the official box.

Her approach to the 3-point line held steady. In 2024-25 she took 5.9 threes a game in 33.9 minutes and made 32.5%. On Monday she took five in 25 minutes, a slightly higher rate.

In 2024-25 she took 8.1 free throws a game. At that rate, 25 minutes would project to about six attempts, by our count. She took four and drew four fouls, two of them on and-ones, per the play-by-play.

Shots per 40 minutes

Watkins took 22 shots in 24 minutes, 55 seconds. Stretched to 40 minutes, that is about 35 attempts. As a freshman she averaged 22.4 shots in 34.6 minutes, roughly 26 per 40. As a sophomore she was at 18.1 in 33.9, roughly 21 per 40. Monday was her highest rate of the three, by our count.

Jazzy Davidson, back for her sophomore season, scored 23 on 10-of-11 shooting. Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class, scored 22 on 7-of-8 in her college debut. Together they went 17 of 19. Everyone on the roster other than Watkins shot 31 of 46, or 67.4%, by our count.

She played 7:06 in the first quarter, 7:49 in the second and all 10 minutes of the third, then sat the entire fourth with USC up 83-49. The third quarter was her best, with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and three fast-break layups. USC was plus-31 in her minutes.

Preseason poll and the Nov. 15 game

The preseason AP poll had South Carolina first with 23 of 31 first-place votes, UConn second with six and USC third with the other two. USC was the only team outside the top two to get a first-place vote.

South Carolina opened Monday by beating No. 20 Maryland 101-93 in Paris after Maryland cut a 31-point deficit to six late.

USC plays South Carolina in Greenville, South Carolina, No. 3 against No. 1. Before that, Watkins has one more game, against Utah State on Sunday at the Galen Center.

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Sources:

• USC Athletics box score, USC vs. UNLV, Nov. 2, 2026
• UNLV Athletics official box score and play-by-play (PDF), Nov. 2, 2026
• AP game story, Nov. 2, 2026
• ESPN game story, Nov. 2, 2026
• ESPN, Watkins ACL injury report, March 24, 2025
• Sports-Reference College Basketball, JuJu Watkins career stats and awards
• ESPN, USC Trojans 2025-26 results
• NCAA.com, 2026 preseason AP Top 25
• NCAA.com, 2026 national championship game
• Maryland Athletics recap, South Carolina vs. Maryland, Nov. 2, 2026
• USC Athletics 2026-27 schedule (Utah State, Nov. 8)
• USC Athletics game center, USC vs. South Carolina, Nov. 15, 2026, Greenville