LOS ANGELES — In the blink of an eye, and the buckle of a knee, the cheers that had filled the Galen Center as USC’s defense held Mississippi State scoreless for its first eight possessions, went silent.

Concern fell over the arena, for star point guard JuJu Watkins had just gone down in a heap, audibly wailing as she grabbed her right knee.

While on a fast-break, Watkins tried to deke two Bulldog defenders by quickly changing pace for her patented euro-step, but when she planted her right leg to make the move, it gave out.

As the video board showed the replay during the Trojans’ 96-59 victory, that silence crescendoed into boos. The jeering, seemingly, came without a clear direction. It could have been at Mississippi State’s Chandler Prater, who had fouled Watkins, or at the angst of the situation.

But, among those boos, one fan took a positive turn, bellowing, “Let’s show them how deep this roster is!”

Indeed, the USC women’s basketball team fulfilled the positive request. With their star Watkins out after her fall at the 4:43 mark of the first quarter, the Trojans rallied together, playing an unselfish brand of basketball, with an offense that ran through senior Kiki Iriafen to dominate the Bulldogs and advance to the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Washington.

In USC’s second-round game, Iriafen scored a season-high 36 points, converting on 16 of 22 field goal attempts, while grabbing nine rebounds. Avery Howell added 18 points and was 4 of 9 from 3-point range, while Kayleigh Heckel filled the ball handling role left by Watkins, dishing six assists and scoring 13 points.

The Trojans (30-3) held Mississippi State to 20-of-64 from the field, and forced 20 turnovers.

And, they let the Bulldogs (22-12) know about it.

Heckel and Kennedy Smith clapped the floor on defense and got into the Bulldogs’ ball handlers. Rayah Marshall stared down opponents after each of her four blocks. The bench rose their left hand in the air to copy Iriafen whenever she finished a left-handed layup.

And when Marshall found herself wide open on the left wing with just a couple seconds left and banked in a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, the whole squad swarmed her at half-court.

Iriafen bumped her chest, Howell enveloped her in an embrace, and Aaliyah Gayles wagged her tongue before dapping Marshall up.

In fact, the Trojans made shots to beat the buzzer in the first, second and third quarters.

While all the joy for USC’s dominance came with a grain of salt as Watkins’ injury remained in the back of minds — and the front of hearts — throughout Monday’s game, her teammates did their best to create a different headline.

Her absence gave way for Iriafen to be the hub of the offense.

She scored on consecutive possessions in the first half, setting up on the left elbow and driving to the basket, then countering with a midrange jump shot after the Bulldogs took the drive away.

In the second half, she ran pick-and-rolls with Smith and Heckel, the USC bench making goggle signs over their eyes as the guards found her for finger-roll finishes. Iriafen knocked down another midrange jumper, bobbing her head to mimic the ball bouncing off the rim and in.

By the third quarter, the Galen Center emcee, D.J. Mal-ski, started playing the chorus of Drake’s “In My Feelings,” which goes: “Kiki, do you love me?”

Iriafen looked as if she felt that way about basketball.

Her offense, USC’s defense, their collective enthusiasm, changed the tone of Galen Center on a night where emotions yo-yo’d on a string.

Instead of wallowing in the unknown of Watkins’ status, which remained unknown through Monday’s buzzer, the Trojans’ stuck together and showed their depth.