Trojans endure a long night

BERKELEY -- When an opposing 7-footer knocks down an open three-point shot and then a forward making 16.7% of his three-point attempts follows by converting two in a row, things are way out of whack for the USC defense.

The No. 22 Trojans had made a habit of stifling their counterparts from long distance but couldn’t contain California from beyond the three-point arc Thursday night at Haas Pavilion during a 92-82 loss in their Pacific 10 Conference opener.

The Golden Bears made 11 three-point shots, including consecutive threes from senior forward Eric Vierneisel after USC had closed to within 66-65 on a driving layup by Daniel Hackett with 7 minutes 13 seconds left.

“That’s 33 points just on threes,” said Trojans freshman guard O.J. Mayo, who scored a career-high 34 points. “Any time you give a team that many points on three-pointers, it’s going to be tough to win.”

Cal’s offensive onslaught ended USC’s streak of holding nine consecutive opponents to 62 points or fewer. The Bears made 11 of 25 three-point attempts (44%) against a Trojans team that had led the conference by holding opponents to 28.8% shooting from long distance before the game.

Sophomore guard Patrick Christopher had 24 points to lead five Cal players in double figures as the Bears (10-2, 1-0 Pac-10) scored the most points against USC (9-4, 0-1) since Mercer scored 96 in the Trojans’ season opener.

Cal senior center DeVon Hardin had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Trojans, who had already wiped out a 13-point deficit late in the first half, made one final push after the consecutive three-point shots by Vierneisel, who had made only five of 30 attempts from long range before the game.

Mayo made a three-pointer to pull the Trojans to within 72-68, but Christopher responded with a layup and Mayo missed a pair of free throws.

Hardin then made one free throw and missed a second before Ryan Anderson grabbed the rebound and fed Christopher for a layup that gave Cal a 77-68 advantage with 4:39 to go.

USC Coach Tim Floyd said his defense “was great in stretches.”

“I’m not going to blame anything as well as Cal played,” he said.

“They’re going to be a team that is going to make this league race very interesting. When you have that kind of scoring power, you have a chance.”

The Trojans played part of the game short-handed, with Hackett battling a sinus infection that had him vomiting during timeouts and Angelo Johnson injuring his right wrist when he landed on it awkwardly after converting a finger-roll layup that gave USC a 55-53 lead midway through the second half. Johnson, who was fouled on the play, would later return.

USC forward Davon Jefferson drew a technical foul as players converged near Johnson, a situation that Floyd later described as “a lack of poise on our part.”

With Johnson in the locker room, Hackett shot the free throw and made it, but Cal’s Jerome Randle made both technical free throws to cut the Trojans’ lead to 56-55.

The Bears then surged ahead by making three consecutive three-point shots, the last by 7-footer Jordan Wilkes to make it 64-56.

Sophomore guard Dwight Lewis had 17 points for USC, and sophomore forward Taj Gibson had eight points and 11 rebounds before fouling out for the fourth time this season.

“We just really feel like we could have won this game,” said Mayo, who made three of his 10 three-point attempts.

“Every time we got within reach, they hit a long ball.”

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ben.bolch@latimes.com