Floyd to switch lineup again

USC Coach Tim Floyd said his starting lineup switch Sunday against Southern Illinois wouldn’t be a one-time occurrence.

“I’m going to do it from time to time,” Floyd said after practice Tuesday.

Would that bother freshman guard O.J. Mayo, who came to leave his mark on the Trojans’ program and found himself on the bench at the outset of the game against the nationally ranked Salukis?

“I don’t think it will be an issue,” Mayo said. “We have total confidence in all of our players.”

On Sunday, Floyd called his decision to remove Mayo and sophomore forward Taj Gibson from the starting lineup “part of breeding unselfishness with the team.”

“Obviously, O.J. and Taj have gotten a tremendous amount of attention and they’re terrific players,” Floyd said. “[But] we have a lot of guys who can play and those guys need to get confidence.”

It was not the first time Floyd pulled a shocker with his starting lineup.

Two years ago, he started walk-on Greg Gaudino against Washington State because he was unhappy with the play of his regulars.

Last season, he benched Nick Young for the first 10 minutes of a game against nationally ranked Wichita State after telling the standout swingman that he had been too lackadaisical in the season’s early going.

But this was a bolder statement, benching a projected NBA lottery pick in Mayo and ending Gibson’s 42-game starting streak, dating to his first college game.

“It wasn’t awkward at all,” Mayo said. “It was part of our game plan. We talked about it at the walk-through prior to the game.”

What was the point Floyd was trying to make?

“You never know what situation a player will be in,” Mayo said. “Taj and I could get in foul trouble later on in the season in a specific game [or] you could have injuries. He just wanted to make sure players were prepared to step up when needed.”

Everything appeared to work out for the best. Mayo and Gibson entered with 13 minutes 36 seconds remaining in the first half and helped spark the Trojans’ 29-13 push before halftime of an eventual 70-45 victory. Mayo finished with 13 points in 28 minutes and Gibson had 10 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes.

Mayo said he had been bothered by an inflamed toe since the South Carolina game Nov. 16 but that he “should be good to go” against Oklahoma on Thursday. . . . Sophomore forward Kyle Austin said he would have an MRI exam Tuesday night on his bothersome back. . . . Freshman center Mamadou Diarra practiced in a few half-court sets, but Floyd said his return from hernia surgery remains “a long way down the road.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com