USC is one and done in Mexico

MAZATLAN, Mexico -- It was like a business trip in which the all-day meetings were canceled after 15 minutes and the itinerary magically transformed from presentations and projections to swimming and sunbathing.

USC came to this seaside resort to play four games in two days, a grueling stretch in which the Trojans were scheduled for two late-night doubleheaders stretching toward midnight.

But the only game they ended up playing was a 102-82 victory Saturday over Caballeros de Sinaloa of Mexico’s Professional National Basketball League.

USC’s second game Saturday was canceled because Caballeros players were too tired for a rematch, and the Trojans’ Sunday doubleheader was scratched because of a damaged gym.

So the players ended up spending more time poolside than courtside, not that any of them were loudly complaining about the siesta with the season opener still more than two months away.

“It was nice to get an unexpected vacation out of it, definitely,” junior forward Keith Wilkinson said.

The players spent Sunday in the pool and the ocean at the team hotel, some of them body boarding with the coaches.

“That’s way too crazy for me,” freshman forward Marcus Simmons said. “I just sat back and watched. It was my first time in the ocean.”

Strength and conditioning coach Rudy Hackett impressed Simmons with a flying leap off a large rock into the hotel pool. Freshman guard O.J. Mayo wasn’t quite as adventurous.

“I just slept a lot,” he said. “I don’t like swimming and all that.”

Coach Tim Floyd chartered a boat Monday morning and went fishing before rejoining his team for the flight back to Los Angeles.

The Trojans departed with deeper tans and a tougher-than-expected victory over a Caballeros de Sinaloa team that proved more formidable than the “junior college-level talent” assessment Floyd had offered before the trip.

Caballeros gave the Trojans plenty of problems during a first half in which they made seven three-pointers and built a 10-point lead. But USC rallied behind freshmen Mayo and Davon Jefferson, who scored 29 points each.

“I’ve been playing with him a lot this summer and I know how to get it to him at the right spot,” Mayo said of his ability to feed Jefferson for easy baskets.

Mayo showed a deft touch running the point and spotted up for seemingly effortless three-pointers. Jefferson looked like a versatile talent, running the fastbreak, mixing it up inside with taller big men and pulling up for smooth 15-foot jumpers.

“These freshmen are going to help our team,” Floyd said. “O.J. was absolutely terrific. I thought he got everybody involved early in the game, and his passes were terrific.”

There were other pleasant surprises. Freshman center Mamadou Diarra repeatedly found his way to the foul line and sophomore walk-on Ryan Wetherell displayed the ballhandling skills necessary to serve as a capable backup at point guard to Mayo and sophomore Daniel Hackett.

Every player who made the trip scored except freshman walk-on James Dunleavy. The most anxious moment might have been when players spotted a tarantula in their locker room.

“That was crazy,” Mayo said.

Perhaps not as wild as traveling roughly 1,000 miles to play only one game. Still, players said the 10 days of practice leading up to the trip should accelerate the team’s preparations for the season opener once practice officially starts next month.

“Even though we only got to play one game, we got to jell together really well and learn about the new guys a lot,” Wilkinson said. “We’re just going to be ready to go Oct. 12 and be a step ahead of other people.”

Said Mayo: “We got an early start and got an idea of how the coaching is going to be and how intense the practices are. We also got to know the personnel on the team. I think it will help us a lot in the long run.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com