Lindsay Gottlieb makes her feelings known on how JuJu Watkins' USC is approaching highly anticipated upcoming match-up vs #1 UCLA

College basketball superstar JuJu Watkins and the No. 7 USC Trojans will face the undefeated conference rival No. 1 UCLA Bruins on Tuesday. After Saturday's victory over Ohio State, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb addressed the upcoming matchup and her team's preparation for the battle.

"First, we're going to take a day off," Gottlieb said. "And then, we'll have a prep for a really, really good UCLA team. We've never, this entire season, shied away from competition. I've never tried to tell them, oh, you know, Ohio State's not that good. Or UConn's not that good, or whoever it is. No, we said, they're great. We're playing great teams. We have to find a way to elevate and be better, and that's what we'll do with UCLA."

At 21-2, the No. 7 Trojans have been no lower than their current spot in the AP poll all season. Of course, one major reason for their success is sophomore star JuJu Watkins, who is averaging 23.9 points per game.

As of Saturday, Watkins was leading the Big Ten in scoring and was fourth nationally. This comes off a freshman season in which she was second nationally in scoring.

UCLA's amazing season

But as good as the Trojans have been, UCLA is the No. 1 team on the AP poll. Coach Cori Close's 22-0 team's closest game of the year was a seven-point win over Louisville in the season opener.

6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts is a likely All-American, averaging 20.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Guard Kiki Rice averages 13.1 points per game and hit an astonishing 56% of her shooting attempts. Four of the top eight Bruins are 6-foot-3 or taller.

UCLA opened the season ranked No. 5 and climbed to the top spot in late November, having remained there ever since. Not only haven't the Bruins ever won an NCAA title, they've never been to a Final Four.

USC and Watkins history

On the other hand, USC won a pair of national titles and reached three Final Fours during the legendary career of Cheryl Miller. But it's been almost 40 years since the Trojans have made the Final Four. The team reached the Elite Eight last season for the first time in 30 years, but the Trojans lost to UConn.

JuJu Watkins has captivated college basketball as a potential successor to Caitlin Clark as the face of the sport. In just a season and a half, the 6-foot-2 guard has already scored 1,469 points and grabbed 401 rebounds. Watkins is just 139 points from the top 10 in USC scoring history and has an excellent shot at Miller's record of 3,018 points. But can she get the Trojans to the Final Four like Miller?

What do you think of USC's chances with UCLA? Share your take below in our comments section!