USC has plenty of range

The assists came from seemingly everywhere.

They came from the backcourt, from the high post, even from a player with his rear planted firmly on the hardwood floor.

No. 25-ranked USC learned that sometimes it’s better to give and to receive Monday night at the Galen Center, converting a season-high 24 assists into an 83-54 romp over Delaware State.

It was the most assists the Trojans had distributed since February 2005, and it helped USC nearly match a school record by shooting 68.1% from the field.

“We play better when we share the ball,” said sophomore guard Daniel Hackett, who had five assists for a team that was averaging 12 per game and had tallied only three in a victory over Oklahoma last month.

The Trojans (7-3) found each other for easy baskets with delightful regularity. Freshman guard O.J. Mayo whipped passes inside to Davon Jefferson and Keith Wilkinson for uncontested baskets, sophomore guard Dwight Lewis found Taj Gibson underneath for a dunk and Hackett later fed Lewis on a play that ended in a layup and a 31-13 lead for USC.

The resulting shooting percentages were eye-catching. Lewis tied a career high with 18 points on eight-for-nine shooting, Jefferson had 17 points on seven-for-nine shooting and Mayo had 12 points on five-for-six shooting despite facing a box-and-one defense designed specifically to slow him.

“That shows you the ball was moving toward the shot versus beating people off the dribble,” Coach Tim Floyd said. “We made the next extra pass more than any other time this season.”

It was salvation of sorts for the starters who had mucked it up against Mercer and the reserves who had so frustrated the fans against Fresno Pacific.

Wearing their gold uniforms for the first time this season, the Trojans asserted themselves against another lightly regarded opponent with an 18-4 game-opening run. After the Hornets (3-6) nearly made a game of it in the closing stages of the first half, the Trojans scored the first 12 points of the second half on an assortment of snazzy plays.

There was a Jefferson steal and behind-the-back move for a layup, a Lewis lay-in off an alley-oop pass from Mayo and an assist from Lewis to Mayo for a three-point basket that came with Lewis seated on the court.

USC shot 73.9% in the second half, to fall just shy of the school record of 71.1% shooting overall against San Jose State in 1983.

“I knew we were making a bunch,” Floyd said. “We were just firing them in from everywhere.”

Delaware State forward Roy Bright, who was the only Hornet to score in the game’s first 10 minutes 46 seconds, had 22 points.

Gibson had five points and seven rebounds while avoiding the foul trouble that had plagued him the last three games. He picked up his first and only foul with 13:01 left.

The USC lead ballooned to as many as 36 points in the second half, allowing Floyd the luxury of inserting junior walk-on Terence Green, who scored the first two points of his career when he made two free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

Freshmen Marcus Simmons and Mamadou Diarra also played following long injury layoffs, with Simmons going scoreless in 13 minutes and Diarra scoring one point in five minutes.

It was a crisp performance for a team that hadn’t played in 12 days, not counting the exhibition against Fresno Pacific in which only the second stringers participated.

“I think the two weeks of practice were good for us,” said Mayo, who became the first Trojans freshman to reach double digits in scoring in his first 10 games. “I think we definitely learned from our three losses and I don’t think we’ll make the same mistakes again.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com