Sports
JuJu Watkins leads USC to exciting double-OT win over UCLA in Pac-12 tournament
With 11.2 seconds left, JuJu Watkins glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with her mother and father sitting in the front row at MGM Grand Garden Arena. She smiled. Relieved.
When she ran straight toward India Otto at the buzzer, she shouted as the fifth-year guard wrapped her in a tight hug. Ecstatic. No signs of pain here.
The star freshman fought through an early ankle injury to finish with 33 points and 10 rebounds as second-seeded USC survived in double overtime against third-seeded rival UCLA 80-70 in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament on Friday. The Trojans will play No. 1 seed Stanford in the final Sunday at 2 p.m. PST on ESPN.
From being picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12 preseason poll to earning the program’s highest seed in the conference tournament, USC (25-5) is one win away from its first conference title since 2014. The rise to prominence has stunned even the generational talent at the center of it all.
“I’m not going to lie,” Watkins said giggling, “I did not think this would happen this soon. … I’m just blessed, honestly. Better than anything I could have hoped for, really.”
After losing nine straight to the Bruins, USC has won consecutive rivalry games, including a victory at Galen Center in January. The Trojans won for the first time against their crosstown rivals in the Pac-10/12 tournament after losing four postseason matchups to the Bruins.
Friday’s game might have been the most tense of them all. It felt like a Final Four matchup, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. Although they were seeded behind the Trojans in the conference tournament, the Bruins (25-6) recently were projected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament by ESPN.
“We always say that the tougher, more together team wins and they were a little bit tougher than us,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “And just being really candid, that’s always on me, it’s my responsibility to have my team be in position to be that and we weren’t.”
USC guard McKenzie Forbes, right, and UCLA forward Gabriela Jaquez, left, react after a shot-clock violation was called on the Bruins during the first half of their Pac-12 tournament game Friday.
(David Becker / Associated Press)
UCLA center Lauren Betts had 17 points and 18 rebounds. Guard Charisma Osborne led the Bruins with 21 points, including 10 points in the second quarter that helped UCLA battle back from a 16-point first-quarter deficit.
USC finished the first quarter with 16 consecutive points, including 14 after Watkins returned from an ankle injury she sustained 48 seconds into the game. She aggravated it in the first minute of the first overtime and couldn’t put any weight on her left leg after collapsing under the basket. She was helped to the bench with her arms draped over the shoulders of two team staff members. One minute and 34 seconds of game time later, Watkins tightened her shoe laces and checked back into the game.
It wasn’t anything new to Gottlieb, who recalled watching a 6:30 a.m. preseason practice at Sierra Canyon when the star player turned her ankle at the beginning of the session. She returned then, too.
“This kid is not normal,” Gottlieb said.
UCLA had chances to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime, getting stops on defense, securing a rebound and calling timeout with 1.9 seconds remaining. Both times, the Bruins failed to get a shot off.
Close admitted that if given the opportunity, she likely would have changed the call on the first play that ended with Kiki Rice heaving a shot after the buzzer because the Bruins couldn’t create a clean catch off the inbound pass. At the end of overtime, Angela Dugalić in-bounded the pass to Osborne, who drove to the baseline and passed it to a teammate as the buzzer sounded.
“That’s not the place where I thought we won or lost the game,” Close said. “Giving up defensive rebounds on free throws, we were up four, we control that.”
UCLA led by four with 57 seconds remaining in overtime when Watkins went to the free throw line for two shots. She sank the first — one of her 14 made free throws on 17 attempts — but missed the second. Kaitlin Davis turned the possession into a four-point trip, collecting the offensive rebound and shoveling it to Kayla Padilla, who whipped a pass to McKenzie Forbes for the tying three-pointer with 50 seconds left.
Uniting USC’s trio of Ivy League transfers, Gottlieb called the play “Ivy Special.” The maturity of USC’s graduate transfers who all starred at their former schools, combined with Watkins’ immense talent has made the Trojans a dangerous team in clutch moments. USC has won 12 games with single digit final score margins this season, more than any other Pac-12 team.
“We can get the win,” said Davis, who finished with 16 rebounds, “because we’ve done it before.”
USC players pointed four fingers down in celebration. The band’s gleaming silver sword found its way into Watkins’ hands. She raised it into the air as USC players paraded onto the Pac-12 Networks set and she placed USC’s red sticker on the oversized tournament bracket, putting the Trojans into the final against Stanford.
USC’s band and traveling student section chanted, “Ju-Ju! Ju-Ju!”
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The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team may still make the NCAA Tournament, but Dick Vitale thinks this iconic program should be much better than their 19-12 record this season considering their whopping $22 million roster.
The legendary ESPN college basketball analyst didn’t hold back his feelings about the Wildcats as they played Florida during Saturday’s prime SEC matchup. After the Gators hit some free throws to extend their first-half lead to 26-19, Vitale started to lay into the Wildcats.
Head coach Mark Pope of the Kentucky Wildcats in a game between the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats on March 7, 2026, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY. (Jeff Moreland/Icon Sportswire)
“I’m going to say this right here, I’ve done several Kentucky games, win or lose, $22 million this team [which has been reported] in terms of the NIL for their players,” he said, per Awful Announcing. “I think in $22 million, they could have put together a better roster than they did. I really do.”
The Wildcats ended up losing by a score of 84-77, and Vitale continued about Kentucky near the end of their 12th loss of the season.
“I’ll tell you one thing, you don’t want to walk out of here thinking you got a moral victory,” Vitale said, referencing a hard-fought game against the No. 5-ranked Florida team. “Moral victories don’t count at this level of basketball. And you hear some of the people, ‘We played them close. We played them tough.’
“The bottom line is you’re Kentucky. You’re Kentucky. And you’ve got to leave here with a win, especially at home. There are no moral victories. Come on. I don’t want to hear that.”
Collin Chandler and Jasper Johnson of the Kentucky Wildcats celebrate in the first half against the Ole Miss Rebels at Rupp Arena on Jan. 24, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Wildcats were once the top program in the country under former Coach John Calipari, who left for Arkansas after being unable to make a long March Madness run in recent seasons, including a shocking first round upset to the Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats have been coached by Mark Pope since, and they made the Sweet 16 in last year’s tournament before losing to Tennessee.
Kentucky Jasper Johnson in action vs Michigan State at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on Nov. 18, 2025. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated )
But this year, Kentucky is 10-8 in SEC play, and now face the No. 9 seed in the upcoming tournament this week. The winner of each conference earns a tournament berth, but the Wildcats know good seeding in the NCAA Tournament requires a strong run heading into Selection Sunday this upcoming weekend.
The Wildcats will start their SEC Tournament play on Wednesday against No. 16 LSU.
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The Chargers bolstered their efforts to protect quarterback Justin Herbert all while diversifying their offense by agreeing to a multiyear deal with veteran fullback Alec Ingold on Sunday, the team announced.
Ingold’s deal with the Chargers reportedly is for two years and $7.5 million.
Ingold will be no stranger to the Chargers’ plans on offense. He played the past four seasons in Miami under coach Mike McDaniel, the Chargers’ new offensive coordinator. Last year he caught eight passes for 52 yards and ran the ball twice in 17 games.
Ingold caught 47 passes for 372 yards and rushed for 34 yards in 20 carries in four seasons with the Dolphins. He also had two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown.
Before his time in Miami, Ingold played three seasons with the Raiders.
The deal comes two days after the Chargers signed veteran center Tyler Biadasz to take over for the retiring Bradley Bozeman. They agreed to terms on a one-year deal with edge rusher Khalil Mack on Saturday.
With the free agency negotiation period set to begin Monday at 9 a.m. PDT, the Chargers remain in strong position to be significant players in the free-agent market. They rank among the top-five teams in salary cap space, per Overthecap.com.
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and his fiancée, Sarah Jane Ramos, reportedly broke up with their wedding around the corner.
Prescott and Ramos’ relationship had been “rocky” in the weeks leading up to the breakup and things exploded between the two at their joint bachelor and bachelorette parties, TMZ Sports reported on Saturday.
Dak Prescott and Sarah Jane Ramos attend the Farrah Fawcett Foundation Tex-Mex Fiesta on Oct. 30, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (Omar Vega/Getty Images for Farrah Fawcett Foundation)
Ramos shared pictures of her trip with her friends on Instagram on Friday.
“I truly believe you can get through anything in life as long as you have really great friends. I love these girls so much,” Ramos captioned the collage of snaps.
Prescott was not pictured in any of the 16 photos and videos posted to her social media account.
Sarah Jane Ramos and Dak Prescott pose for a photo before Dak Prescott’s Faith Fight Finish Foundation Gala on May 17, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images for Faith Fight Finish Foundation)
Ramos also posted photos of her bridal shower back on Feb. 23. There were no photos of Prescott in the carousel either.
“The most intimate and beautiful bridal shower of my dreams,” she added on Instagram. “So grateful for my aunts who hosted it and my girlfriends and family that came to celebrate. I love you all so much and can’t wait to marry the love of my life with all of you by my side.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Prescott’s representative for comment.
Prescott posted a series of photos on his Instagram of Ramos and his family on July 20, 2025. There’s only a September advertisement posted on his account since.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Sarah Jane Ramos pose on the NFL Honors Red Carpet before Super Bowl LX at Palace of Fine Arts on Feb. 5, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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The NFL star and Ramos announced they were engaged on Oct. 18, 2024. The couple have two children together.
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