His arms gave USC a leg up

USC Coach Tim Floyd was fuming at halftime of Saturday’s game against George Washington over his team’s turnovers and poor rebounding.

“How about let’s don’t get totally embarrassed and get beat by 60?” he told his players, already trailing by 13 and soon to be down by 20.

Then Floyd pulled a page from his old boss Don Haskins’ Texas El Paso playbook.

“I worked for Coach Haskins for years and years, and he said when things are tough, you go with your toughest competitors,” Floyd said.

Little more than a minute into the second half, Floyd sent in Kyle Austin, a freshman forward who hadn’t even played in the first half.

Austin would remain almost invisible in the box score, finishing with two points in 19 minutes.

But George Washington guard Carl Elliott might be seeing Austin’s lanky arms in his sleep after Austin kept his 6-foot-7 frame between Elliott and the basket almost the entire second half of USC’s crazy comeback for a 74-65 victory in the Wooden Classic at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

“Coach Floyd didn’t really say anything, just ‘Get in there,’ ” Austin said. “I just went out and did what I was supposed to do. Coach Floyd wants you to play defense and get back and rebound.”

Austin shot 0 for 2 from the field and two for four from the free-throw line with three rebounds. But credit him with one huge defensive assist.

“We had Austin on Elliott in the second half, and the guy ended up four for 19, and he’s a very good player,” Floyd said.

Elliott, George Washington’s leading scorer, had nine points in the first half and two in the second, shooting one for 10 against Austin.

“I wasn’t surprised,” said USC guard Daniel Hackett, another freshman, who led the way with an 18-point performance. “The kid plays hard every day in practice, and he just came through off the bench. He brought us a lot of energy and played great defense.

“He’s quiet. But he’ll play hard.”

Lodrick Stewart, the senior whose key three-point baskets helped fuel USC’s comeback, agreed.

“He’s one who gives it his all on every play. He’s the kind of player we need on our team. Players like him, who stand up in big situations, are like the glue of our team.”

If O.J. Mayo was watching the Trojans in the first half Saturday, he might have been tempted to claim that wasn’t his signature on a letter of intent with USC.

But finding a dependable understudy like Austin shows that Floyd can uncover players besides the much-lauded and much-scrutinized big recruits he has had such success with so far.

Austin, who was still 17 when he started class at USC, didn’t attract much attention at Pasadena High except from such mid-majors as Wyoming, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.

Floyd learned about him after the young forward played for one of Pat Barrett’s summer basketball teams.

“We heard he played good, and we sent a feeler to see if he’d be interested in coming to our camp,” Floyd said.

Austin wanted to play in the Pacific 10 and leaped at the opportunity. USC coaches liked what they saw.

Until Saturday, Austin, who turned 18 in October, was averaging nine minutes a game and 2.4 points, shooting about 30% from the field. He didn’t get in the game at all on USC’s trip to Kansas.

Yet he often guards some of USC’s best players in practice -- Stewart, Nick Young and Taj Gibson.

Floyd praised him as a player who does whatever he’s asked to do.

“He’s been terrific from day one as far as that. He will continue to get opportunities,” Floyd said. “We’re probably going to redshirt him next year. And you don’t redshirt guys unless you think they can be players.”

Floyd called the first half “about as ugly a half as I’ve ever been a part of.”

The beauty of the second half was it ended with a “W” that was earned the hard way.

“That’s the eighth straight game we’ve held the opponent under 40% [shooting],” Floyd said. “If we can get to where we can pass and catch, we’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”

Stewart nodded.

“It was our defense that won it,” he said. “I know it seems kind of corny. People can think it’s a corny saying, but it’s true.”

robyn.norwood@latimes.com