OJ Mayo’s 32-point effort in his Trojan debut was not enough to save 18th-ranked USC from falling to 0-3 in season openers under third-year head coach Tim Floyd, as the Trojans (0-1) were trounced by unranked Atlantic Sun Conference school Mercer (1-0) on Saturday at the Galen Center, 96-81. The Bears led by as many as 21 points in the first half, and took a 17-point lead into halftime, but the Trojans were able to cut the lead to three early in the second period. That was as close as USC would get.

Neither Davon Jefferson nor Marcus Simmons played for the Trojans after missing too many practices with injuries, but fellow freshman Angelo Johnson did, and scored 17 points in 21 minutes. Dwight Lewis added 15 points, and Taj Gibson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but USC shot poorly from the free-throw line, were out-rebounded by two, and, most importantly, failed to play defense, allowing Mercer to shoot almost 60% from the field. Mayo himself was outplayed at times in the first half, but finished the game strong.

The Trojans next play on Thursday at The Citadel.

Box score (ESPN)
No. 18 USC falls to 0-3 in openers under coach Floyd (AP via ESPN)
Trojans are blindsided by Mercer (LA Times)
Mayo shows a lot, but it’s a little too late for USC (LA Times)
Mercer upsets USC (OC Register)
USC falls to Mercer in opener (Daily News)
Upstarts upstage debut of Mayo… (Press-Enterprise)
Hold the Mayo (CSTV Hang Time blog)