3 ways UCLA Bruins cost themselves a Big Ten title against JuJu Watkins & Co.

The No. 2 UCLA Bruins lost 80-67 to the JuJu Watkins-led No. 4 USC Trojans on Saturday evening at a sold-out Pauley Pavilion. The loss cost the Bruins a Big Ten regular season conference title and marked the second time that they had lost to USC in the past month after being beaten 71-60 at the Galen Center on Valentine's Day.

While USC played some dominant basketball, and this isn't to take anything away from their terrific performance, at times the Bruins just couldn't get out of their own way. With that in mind, let's look at three ways in which the Bruins helped the Trojans record a crucial victory:

3 ways UCLA Bruins cost themselves a Big Ten title against JuJu Watkins' USC

#1. Lauren Bett's off night

UCLA star Lauren Betts is one of the best players in the country and is averaging 20.0 points on 62.4% shooting from the floor, 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists this season. She struggled against the USC Trojans on Saturday evening managing 11.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists, tallying most of her points after the game had been decided.

In the first half, she only managed 4.0 points shooting 2-of-6 after being well-marshaled by USC center Rayah Marshall. Betts further missed two of her free throws to compound the Bruins' poor shooting at the Pauley Pavilion.

Despite tallying 18.0 points in the team's first encounter on Valentine's Day, Betts has struggled against the Trojans, shooting 10-of-24 after being the subject of robust defending by coach Lindsay Gottlieb's team.

During her postgame news conference, Gottlieb pointed out how her team blunted Lauren Bett's effectiveness in the game.

“We can throw multiple bodies at her (Betts),” Gottlieb said. “And then we also have the athleticism to say we want to make her touches tough but not give up wide-open threes.”

#2. The Bruins started cold

The UCLA Bruins started the match cold, missing their first eight shots including conceding two turnovers. By the time, Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts made some shots, the Trojans were out of sight.

In contrast, JuJu Watkins made four 3-pointers in the first half and managed 23.0 points by halftime. She had one less made 3-pointers than the entire Bruins team showing just how badly coach Cori Close's team shot in the game. They allowed the Trojans to go on hot scoring runs and even after trimming the deficit to four points in the third quarter, once again allowed them a 7-0 run.

The nail in the coffin was a 12-3 fourth-quarter run by USC which stretched the lead to 20 points effectively ending the game as a contest.

#3. UCLA's turnovers

The USC Trojans forced 16 UCLA Bruins' turnovers leading to a mammoth 25.0 points in an error-strewn performance by coach Cori Close's team. The Bruins coach addressed the issue during her postgame news conference.

“USC, they were tougher and more disciplined and they did their jobs,” Cori Close said. “We weren’t as tough and we didn’t do our jobs.”

Despite the loss, the UCLA Bruins will get a double-bye for the Big Ten tournament that starts next week. The Bruins were designated 1-seeds in the recently released NCAA brackets, but the two losses to the USC Trojans could affect that standing going into March Madness.