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Floyd is irked despite win

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Times Staff Writer

With less than a week before its season opener, the USC men’s basketball team does not appear worthy of its newly opened arena.

The Trojans led Cal Poly Pomona, a Division II team that had lost to UCLA by 30 points, by only four with just under six minutes to play Saturday afternoon at the Galen Center before pulling away for a 56-47 exhibition victory.

Freshman point guards Daniel Hackett and Kevin Galloway combined for nearly as many turnovers (four) as assists (six) and missed all four of their shots as USC struggled to find an offensive rhythm.

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Freshman forward Taj Gibson was the only Trojan to score in double figures after getting 10 of his 11 points in the second half.

Asked if he had only a few things to clean up before the Trojans play host to South Carolina on Thursday, Coach Tim Floyd said, “If you’d call 50 a few, yeah.”

Floyd criticized the team’s rebounding and ball-handling and called it a “stretch” to say the Trojans were further along than they were at this point last year, when they opened the season with losses to Cal State Northridge and Oral Roberts.

If there was a positive, it may have been that Galloway played with more poise than he had in practice. But he played only 15 minutes and Hackett, who started, played 25.

Senior guard Lodrick Stewart played with protective padding on his right shoulder, which he injured in practice last week.

Stewart said he was taking painkillers and might have to undergo X-rays because the area was still bothering him.

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Sophomore forward Jeremy Barr has decided to be a redshirt this season, Floyd said.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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