USC’s Young answers call

It was a wake-up call at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.

After his coach told him that he was too easygoing and didn’t rebound, Nick Young found himself on the bench Saturday when USC took the court against No. 8-ranked Wichita State in the Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena.

He wasn’t inactive for long.

Showing the vigor that had been missing from his game for most of the season’s early going, the junior swingman scored a season-high 26 points in 27 minutes to lead the Trojans to a 60-56 upset over the suddenly slumping Shockers.

Continually darting past and spinning around defenders, Young made 12 of 15 shots on an assortment of jump shots, the last on a fadeaway just inside the three-point arc that gave USC a 57-53 lead with little more than a minute left in its first signature victory this season.

“It’s just one of those games that I’ve needed all year that really woke me up,” said Young, who was selected to the all-tournament team despite a ho-hum nine-point performance Friday during the Trojans’ loss to Kansas State. “I felt like Kobe [Bryant].”

This triumph required more than a singular effort for USC, which committed a season-low 10 turnovers one night after committing a season-high 28. The Trojans (10-3) had only three turnovers in the second half, and freshman point guard Daniel Hackett did not turn the ball over once in 32 minutes.

Twenty-four hours after his team’s worst performance of the season, Coach Tim Floyd tried a new approach against Wichita State (9-2), opting to hold neither a pregame walk-through nor a film session to prepare for a top-10 opponent.

He also had some choice words for Young and juggled his starting lineup by inserting three reserves in place of Young, Hackett and senior center Abdoulaye N’diaye.

“Coach motivated me,” said Young, who was not in the starting lineup for the first time since his freshman season. “I guess he was trying to keep me going and bring the Nick out of me. It was about how I wasn’t rebounding and was playing too lackadaisical, and that’s something I needed to know.”

Young didn’t wait long to make an impact after entering with 9 minutes 40 seconds left in the first half, making a three-point basket from the wing and following with two fadeaway jump shots. He had 12 points by halftime on five-for-five shooting as the Trojans overcame an early nine-point deficit to take a 28-21 lead into the locker room.

The teams were on the verge of blows shortly before halftime when USC senior guard Lodrick Stewart apparently elbowed guard Matt Braeuer in the ribs.

After play stopped, Wichita State forward Phillip Thomasson knocked down Hackett and was called for an intentional foul. Braeuer then rose in apparent pain and angrily pointed at Stewart as he walked off the court.

Braeuer did not return and might have suffered a cracked rib, said Coach Mark Turgeon, who called Stewart’s elbow “a cheap shot.”

Wichita State was already playing somewhat short-handed considering that guard P.J. Couisnard, the team’s second-leading scorer, was still fighting the effects of food poisoning that sidelined him during the Shockers’ loss to New Mexico on Friday.

Nevertheless, Wichita State battled back after freshman forward Taj Gibson gave the Trojans a 44-34 lead on a lay-in with 12 minutes left.

Couisnard’s driving layup cut the Shockers’ deficit to 55-53 with under two minutes to play before Young made his final fadeaway jump shot and the Trojans made three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds.

“Young was just too much,” Turgeon said. “The kid was incredible. Unbelievable. Phenomenal.”

Floyd also praised Young, telling him he was proud of him after delivering his all-tournament trophy in the locker room.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com