No. 18 Trojans blindsided by Mercer

Something seemed amiss inside the Galen Center early Saturday afternoon.

Curtains were drawn on the giant picture windows that afford a stunning view of the downtown Los Angeles skyline because of the daytime glare. The USC fight song had to be piped in through the sound system because the Trojans band accompanied the football team to Berkeley.

Then came tip-off.

The following 40 minutes were even more disconcerting for the 18th-ranked Trojans, who snoozed their way to a 21-point deficit and never recovered during a 96-81 loss to Mercer in their season opener.

“It was a tough one,” USC freshman guard Angelo Johnson said. “It hurt real bad.”

Trojans guard O.J. Mayo’s 32-point performance in his college debut will go down as little more than a footnote after Mercer became the second Atlantic Sun Conference team in four days to knock off a nationally ranked opponent.

Coach Tim Floyd had put his injury-ravaged team on upset alert earlier this week after Gardner-Webb stunned No. 20 Kentucky, but his players were sluggish in the first half. They were especially lethargic on defense and needed a late run just to pull within 17 points.

Mercer’s cushion helped the Bears shrug off a second-half surge from Mayo, who tallied the most points by a USC freshman in his debut after springing for 25 points in the final 20 minutes. Mercer sophomore guard James Florence had 30 points.

“We just need to come out and respect all of our opponents,” said Mayo, who had eight turnovers, four assists and made 12 of 27 shots while playing all 40 minutes. “Come out hard and don’t look at the name on the jerseys, just come out and play hard.”

Does that mean the Trojans overlooked Mercer?

“No, we just kind of came out maybe nonchalant,” Mayo said. “We didn’t come out with the intensity that we came out with in the second half and we dug ourselves into a hole. It was hard to get back out.”

The Trojans nearly did midway through the second half, briefly enlivening the crowd of 3,856. Mayo made a pull-up jumper and then forced a steal and made a layup as part of a 10-2 run that pulled USC to within three points, 55-52, with 12 minutes 50 seconds remaining.

After Mercer senior guard Shaddean Aaron made one of two free throws, the Trojans had three consecutive chances to slice into the four-point deficit. But the possessions ended with a turnover by redshirt freshman forward Kasey Cunningham, a missed jumper by sophomore forward Taj Gibson and a turnover by Johnson.

Florence then made a three-pointer, and the Bears were on their way.

Gibson logged a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but still had a somewhat exasperating day after making only four of 12 shots and five of 10 free throws. The Trojans made only 18 of 32 free throws and shot 40% from the field to Mercer’s 59.4%.

Making matters worse, USC scored only 15 second-chance points despite grabbing 22 offensive rebounds.

“It’s always frustrating when you feel that you can make those easy buckets,” said Gibson, who re-injured his ankle in the second half but remained in the game. “Today, they weren’t dropping.”

An uneven performance by the Trojans wasn’t wholly unexpected considering they were missing sophomore guard Daniel Hackett (jaw) and freshman center Mamadou Diarra (hernia). Floyd decided not to play freshmen Davon Jefferson and Marcus Simmons even though they were available, saying “they’ve got no idea what we’re doing” after missing long stretches of practice because of injuries.

Judging by the way things evolved Saturday, the same could be said for many of the Trojans on the floor. USC will play its next five games on the road, starting Thursday at the Citadel.

Floyd has lost all three of his season openers at USC. “We just have a long way to go as a basketball team,” he said.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com