Trojans hope to know their roles

OMAHA – O.J. Mayo sat at a dais deep inside the cavernous Qwest Center on Wednesday afternoon and addressed an array of topics at the behest of the 50 or so reporters gathered before him.

There was the USC freshman’s longtime relationship with Kansas State forward Bill Walker, the challenge of facing Wildcats phenom Michael Beasley, and Mayo’s affinity for playing for Coach Tim Floyd.

Meanwhile, things strolled along at a more leisurely pace inside the USC locker room as a handful of reporters trickled in and out.

Keith Wilkinson sat in one corner listening to country music on an iPod. Marcus Simmons pulled up a chair alongside teammate Kasey Cunningham and watched an animated comedy show on a laptop computer. Dwight Lewis propped up his feet on a table and looked bored.

It was as if these Trojans were groupies who had tagged along with a rock star on a cross-country tour.

But when Mayo, Beasley and their less heralded teammates share the same stage tonight as sixth-seeded USC plays 11th-seeded Kansas State in an NCAA tournament Midwest Regional first-round game, a role player could seize the spotlight and thrust himself into the national consciousness, if just for one day.

It happened last season to Daniel Hackett, a part-time starter for USC entering the NCAA tournament. Then the freshman found himself defending Texas’ Kevin Durant, the national player of the year, during a second-round game.

“I had no idea what I was getting into,” Hackett said. “It was my first time in the NCAA tournament. I thought about going out there and playing with no pressure and bringing as much energy as I could.”

Hackett scored a career-high 20 points and held Durant mostly in check until the Trojans were comfortably on their way to an 87-68 victory that sent them to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years.

Complementary players don’t have to score in double figures or provide a lockdown defensive effort to make a difference in the postseason. If Simmons grabbed a key rebound or freshman guard Angelo Johnson made a crisp pass at precisely the right moment, that would be enough for Floyd.

“We’re aware that in this tournament oftentimes different people grab the stage,” Floyd said.

Kansas State’s Blake Young, one of two senior starters often overlooked on a team that features Beasley and Walker, said his role is to fight for loose balls and try to shut down an opponent’s top scoring guard, meaning he’ll be matched up at times against Mayo.

“If it’s getting that loose ball that we need down one [point] or getting that steal to get us another possession… . I always visualized doing something like that to help us win,” Young said.

Wildcats freshman guard Jacob Pullen would love to replicate his 20-point performance off the bench during an 84-75 upset victory over Kansas in January. Of course, he’d also settle for two points – if they came at the right moment.

“I think everybody who plays basketball has had that dream, playing in the yard and saying, ‘Three … two … one’ and hitting the shot” to win an NCAA tournament game, Pullen said. “If I get the chance to do that, I would love to.”

Wilkinson, a junior forward who averages 2.5 points and 13.3 minutes a game for the Trojans, has been dreaming of postseason glory ever since he grew up watching the “One Shining Moment” highlight videos that follow every championship game on national television. In some ways those videos might have more resonance with youngsters than the Final Four MVPs.

“You always dream of yourself being on that clip one day,” Wilkinson said.

For Wilkinson, that moment might entail grabbing a rebound or making a pivotal three-pointer.

“This is the biggest opportunity, the biggest stage and anything anyone can do, including me, is going to be great,” he said. “If I could do something like that, it would be one of the most special things in my life.”

Floyd had witnessed step-up performances in the postseason before Hackett’s breakthrough.

Kelvin Cato was a rugged but underwhelming senior center for Floyd’s Iowa State Cyclones who combined for 35 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks during a pair of victories in the 1997 NCAA tournament.

“He had NBA talent and turned it on in the NCAA tournament and dominated the first- and second-round games and put us in a position to go play a UCLA team in the third game that we led for 59 minutes and lost on the shot at the buzzer,” Floyd recalled. “He was dominant in that game as well.”

Cato scored 10 points against the Bruins but couldn’t get his outstretched hand on Cameron Dollar’s running bank shot with 1.9 seconds to go that lifted UCLA to a 74-73 overtime victory.

Floyd said there’s something about the NCAA tournament that can turn middling players into stars.

“Guys with great talent sometimes don’t play as hard as they need to throughout the course of 27 games [during the regular season] because it’s been easy for them in high school,” Floyd said. “But with the stage and the lights, sometimes they kick in their true talent.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com