Trojans have arrived at meet part of schedule

Facing a pivotal week as it tries to recover from a two-game stumble to open Pacific 10 Conference play, USC held a rare team meeting Sunday evening at the Galen Center.

The Trojans seldom meet on Sundays during conference play except for an occasional film session, but they convened without watching film or practicing so that players and coaches could talk about what needs to happen for them to start winning Pac-10 games.

“I’ve been around here three years now, and it seems like every year you reach a point in the season where something like this needs to happen,” junior forward Keith Wilkinson said. “It happened when I was a freshman here, it happened last year.

“It happened a little bit late this year. We usually do it right before Pac-10, working some stuff out, but we’re doing it now and I think we’ll be better for it.”

Wilkinson said the consensus at the hour-plus meeting was that “we just need to play together as a team, practice a little harder and pay attention to all the details Coach [Tim Floyd] has to say and try to get the game plans in.”

The Trojans (9-5 overall, 0-2 Pac-10) have an opportunity to break out of their slump in a big way Thursday when they play host to No. 4 Washington State (13-0, 1-0) at the Galen Center. Then they face Washington on Saturday at home before playing their next three games on the road, at UCLA and the Oregon schools.

Wilkinson, one of only three juniors on a team with no seniors, said he was among the players who spoke at the meeting. He said he talked about “just playing as a team and kind of being unselfish and selfless and just moving the ball and no matter what it is that guys may do or may not do, just knowing your role.

“Most people come in and they all were the guys in high school. But it’s different in college. Like me personally, I know what my role is on this team, and that’s to get rebounds, move the ball on offense and hit open shots, whereas other guys get a lot more opportunities scoring-wise.”

The Trojans averaged 19 turnovers and 11.5 assists in their first two conference games and finished with an average of 11 fewer rebounds than their opponents.

ben.bolch@latimes.com