NCAA analyst finds parallels between JuJu Watkins’ USC & Madison Booker’s Texas after respective B1G and SEC tournament losses

JuJu Watkins' USC and Madison Booker's Texas, two of the most notable teams in the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, lost their respective conference tournament title games. The Trojans fell 72-67 to UCLA while the Longhorns were defeated 64-45 by South Carolina. Both the teams had won their recent regular season game against the championship opponents.

In Tuesday's episode of The Elle Duncan Show, ESPN analyst Duncan and Gary Striewski pointed out another similarity between both contests, highlighting the importance of Watkins and Booker's scoring touch.

"What stood out to me was, and we touched on it, if Juju is not going USC is in trouble," Striewski said (5:00). "She took 28 shots, hit nine of them in that Big Ten Championship. They went dry scoring. Did you not see that as an issue?"

Duncan then noted that Texas had the same issue as JuJu Watkins, where their star player was unable to solidify her footing in the game.

"I think that's probably the same thing that people feel like is an issue for Texas and that's exactly what we saw on the SEC Championship with Madison Booker," Duncan replied.

"Everything runs through Maddie and if a team focuses in on her like South Carolina did and makes her day very very long, I mean she got her first bucket with like a handful of minutes left in the first half."

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What didn't work for Madison Booker and JuJu Watkins in the conference championship?

Dawn Staley deployed Bree Hall on Madison Booker to make her work for the simplest of touches. As the consistent pressure made it hard for the forward to get to her sports, the rest of the team ensured Booker's playmaking was limited.

She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds on 30.8% shooting, the third game of the season without a single assist. Staley also had Raven Johnson constantly eyeing Booker as a second layer of defense, which helped significantly in limiting her impact.

Unlike Madison Booker, JuJu Watkins had a great first half. She had 18 points at the break, leading USC to a 45-35 lead at the break. UCLA increased the on-ball pressure in the latter half.

Strategic double teams forced her into taking tough shots and gradually diminished her driving lane opportunities. 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts in the paint added to her struggles.