Ryan ChartrandLOS ANGELES – Daniel Hackett led the 25th-ranked USC men’s basketball team to a 78-55 victory over Cal Poly Saturday night, Dec. 22, at the Galen Center. The sophomore guard scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in a competitive first half in which the Mustangs led the Trojans early before surrendering a pivotal run – and the lead, which they would never regain.
“USC did everything we had expected,” Cal Poly head coach Kevin Bromley said. “Hackett was absolutely fantastic today.”
After Cal Poly (5-6) fed the ball inside for a 10-5 lead in the opening three minutes, the Trojans (8-3), determined to make Cal Poly’s shooters beat them, clamped down in the post to take control.
They reeled off a 26-8 run over the ensuing 12 minutes on the way to a 38-26 lead at intermission, at which point the Mustangs had made just 3 of their 15 shots from 3-point distance, a long-range shooting total they would precisely duplicate in the second half.
“We need to have a healthy balance with our 3-point shooting,” Bromley said. “We do not want to shoot ourselves out of it.”
Matters got worse for Cal Poly after USC erupted on an 11-1 run beginning the second half, a surge capped by an emphatic Taj Gibson dunk that pushed the Trojans’ advantage to 49-27 with 17:12 remaining.
The Trojans’ much-hyped freshman, O.J. Mayo, displayed a complementary game, finishing with a season-high six assists accompanying his 18 points. He seemed content to blend in with his teammates on a night that saw all five USC starters score at least eight points.
While Mayo, the Trojans’ leading scorer, didn’t pace his team in that category, he distributed one more assist than Cal Poly’s five as a team.
A bit more than four minutes into the second half, Mayo led a three-on-two fast-break and tossed a spectacular behind-the-head pass to a trailing Davon Jefferson for a dunk.
On the other side of the court, Cal Poly continued in vain to take half of its shots from 3-point range, while USC used its stifling defense to ignite transition opportunities, outscoring the Mustangs 11-0 in fast-break points.
The game began well for Cal Poly, as forward Matt Hanson connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to open the scoring. Hanson scored the first eight points for the Mustangs, whose upset bid looked convincing at the onset.
Cal Poly’s emphasis on working the ball inside to Hanson and center Titus Shelton during the first few minutes created open perimeter looks when overzealous Trojans defenders collapsed.
“We weren’t very good with our interior defense tonight,” USC head coach Tim Floyd said. “When they got the ball deep, they made us pay.”
Shelton, who had a co-team-high 12 points, added a jump hook in the lane to give the Mustangs their biggest lead of the game, a five-point margin, at the 17:10 mark.
“(Shelton) is an important part of this team,” Bromley said. “When we can get the ball down low to him, he is a big weapon for us.”
Cal Poly returns to action Dec. 28 at Mott Gym against Southern Utah in the final game of its non-conference schedule, before beginning Big West Conference play Jan. 3 by hosting Cal State Northridge.