USC guards step forward

USC appeared to be short two starting guards early in the second half Saturday night.

Sophomore Daniel Hackett, two days removed from a bruised right pelvis suffered against Arizona, sat atop a stationary bike on the sideline trying to pedal through lingering discomfort.

Sophomore Dwight Lewis, two days removed from a terrible game against the Wildcats, seemed well on the way to another poor outing when he missed five of his first six field-goal attempts and his first four free throws.

Then it was as if both players materialized just when the Trojans needed them. Hackett brought grit and determination off the bench and Lewis scored six consecutive points to break a tie and help propel USC to a 67-53 victory over Arizona State at the Galen Center.

“It was painful, I’m not going to lie,” said Hackett, who started the game and had two points and three rebounds in 18 minutes. “Give our trainer and our doctors a lot of credit. It was almost a miracle I could run.”

It was also startling that Lewis could contribute in such a big way after his slow start.

After USC sophomore forward Taj Gibson tied the score, 38-38, on a jumper early in the second half, Lewis made a three-pointer and then a three-point play when he drove for a layup and drew a foul.

“I just saw an opportunity to make a play for our team,” Lewis said.

By the time USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo capped what became a 15-2 run with a driving layup, the Trojans held a 51-40 advantage and were en route to their fifth victory in six games.

USC improved to 14-7 overall and 5-4 in the Pacific 10 Conference, moving into a three-way tie for third place with Washington State and Arizona.

“That’s pretty good,” Lewis said. “We want to get to first, though.”

Arizona State (14-7, 4-5) has lost five in a row to fall into a three-way tie for sixth with California and Oregon.

Freshman guard James Harden finished with a game-high 26 points but wasn’t around when things started to slip away for the Sun Devils.

Arizona State had to play nearly six minutes of the second half without Harden after he picked up three fouls in a span of 1 minute 12 seconds, giving him four for the game. The Sun Devils led by two points when Harden exited with 15:57 to play and trailed by 11 when he re-entered with 10:11 left.

Mayo scored 20 points and Gibson had a strong all-around effort with 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

“Taj played as well as he’s played since he’s been here, and a lot of that won’t show up on the stat sheet,” said USC Coach Tim Floyd, whose team won the rebounding battle, 29-21, out-rebounding an opponent for the first time since Dec. 22 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Hackett said he received treatment for his injury starting at 7 a.m. During pregame warmups, he said, he had trouble jumping and moving laterally but felt he could dribble and “do some basic things and not hurt the team.” He told the coaching staff he wanted to try to contribute.

Wearing a protective pad, Hackett spent much of the first half shuttling back and forth between the bench and the court. He clutched his side in discomfort less than a minute into the game and during the first media timeout returned to the sideline, where he rode the bike.

“I know he was hurting and he gave us good minutes,” said USC freshman forward Davon Jefferson, who had 11 points and nine rebounds. “It was very brave of him to do that. A lot of players wouldn’t do that.”