After losing twice to the USC Trojans in the regular season, the UCLA Bruins reduced their two-day break to one after the regular season. Coach Kori Close gave her a day to her side and went back to training for the Big Ten tournament after watching the tape.
The two losses fell as UCLA is a top-ranked team nationwide, finishing a potential perfect season. UCLA entered the postseason with a 28-2 record, but the program didn't want the Trojans to be upset. The Bruins wanted another chance.
“If you're a competitor, yes, bring it in,” Close said. “If you don't, you've had a big mistake. If someone in our locker room answers you differently, don't come back.”
Betts was one of the players who wanted another chance. Despite having two double-doubles to Crosstown's rivalry during the regular season, USC's second defeat cut in particular deep cut considering it was home and sole ownership of the Big Ten regular season title.
At Sunday's Big Ten Tournament Final in Indianapolis, Indiana, USC appeared to have held the Bruins number with a 45-35 halftime lead. USC guard Juju Watkins, who won the Big 10 players of the year with Betts, scored 18 points and five rebounds in the first half, but Betts scored four points in two shots and four points in two rebounds.
Luckily for UCLA, there are two halves of a basketball game.
In the third quarter, USC extended its lead to 13 points in the first minute. Soon after that, Betts rose towards layups and USC's defense, trying to stop a massive stop, bumping into the thumb of the 6-foot-7 center, requiring a quick trip to the sideline to tape it down. When Betts returned, center was another player.
Betts scored nine points in the quarter with three-thirds of shooting, and two more steals. Junior scored as many points as the Trojans in the third quarter, and the Bruins fell two points in the fourth quarter.
The deficit didn't last long for the Bruins as Betts tied the game together by hit the first basket of the final quarter. The layups looked like broken plays, and the USC defense had a good coverage of the players around them. Betts had the ball and stood near the top of the key, waiting for someone to be open as the shot clock approached its expiration. The center didn't panic after seeing this, so Betts became a point guard and ran to the basket to hit a layup.
That shot went on to an 11-point run that stretched from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Defensively, Betts and the Bruins made some kind of comeback for the Trojans and started the quarter with 13 missed shots. It wasn't until 1:13 that USC hit a shot in the play run after USC scored four previous points during the period from the free throw line.
Part of that defense was Betts, who had three blocks in the quarter. Includes Watkins blocks.
There were times when Betts didn't jump off the screen, and when he put himself in position to delay the USC violation with an astonishing move.
“I think it was just making myself a bit uncomfortable. obviously playing around with boundaries is something that a lot of the 6'7-inch posts don't want to do, but I think that's what the team needed from me at the moment,” Betts said. “When Juju came out of the screen, I pushed myself up and started to get into an uncomfortable situation.”
Betts closed the second half, earning 13 points, three blocks and two steals, giving UCLA a 72-67 victory and only a second conference tournament trophy in program history. In the fourth quarter, Betts reached the 1,000-point mark for her NCAA career, but that wasn't in the heart of the center. You'll soon be celebrating with her teammates.
“I don't think you all understand, I'm very proud of this team,” said Betts, a courtroom celebrating with her teammates. “We won that game. We won it. We took off our ass. We were together. We learned. After losing to them in a row in the regular season, we could have given up, and we were just not finished. That wasn't enough. This game is not denied.”
In the second half, the Trojans' leads reduced and the Bruins were surged forward, making Betts emotional from a normally subdued athlete. Betts' blocks were stronger and his drive to the basket was faster.
That outstanding performance culminated in the Tournament Honor Player, the second individual award won by Junior this season after winning the Big Ten defensive player of the year. Still, Betts emphasized how unimportant individual praise is.
“It's great, but what makes the most sense to me is the confidence that this team won the madness in March when they won this game,” Betts said.
The most important thing for Betts is how the teams come together and set up teams in the NCAA Tournament. This starts on Sunday with a selection show that will unveil the entire field of 68 teams.
Now, UCLA may hear their name, called the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA was at the top of the NCAA Tournament Committee's top 16 on February 27th. Since then, the Bruins have been defeated by the Trojans on the final day of the season, but the loss of the AP No. 1-ranked Texas Longhorns in Sunday's UCLA victory, and the SEC Tournament, Betts and the Bruins may have locked up their top spot in Madness in March.
The Betts and the Bruins have shown they have a strong case to win the No. 1 seed despite having two losses to USC in the regular season. When Coach Close gets a job, profits speak for itself.
“I think only the work done in the darkness showed today. As I said, these are great teams, but I think we were just great teams today.
