The Trojans (6-1) won their sixth straight game–and picked up their first home victory of the season–with an impressive 66-55 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners (5-2) Thursday night at the Galen Center. Aside from a multi-minute lull in the middle of the second half when USC seemed to lose its intensity and allowed the Sooners to cut the lead from 15 points to three, the Trojans were in control and seemed to be the better team on the court.

USC led 29-18 at the half despite the fact that Taj Gibson sat out most of the first half with three fouls, and leading scorer OJ Mayo had just two points. Gibson would never be a factor in the game (he picked up his final two fouls in the few minutes he played in the second half), but Mayo finally came alive at the end of the game, scoring 11 consecutive points when the game became close and finishing with 18 on the evening. Much of the scoring burden was handled by first-time starter Davon Jefferson. The freshman scored inside and out, demonstrating great athleticism in the process and finishing with team highs of 23 points and 9 rebounds.

Oklahoma played well defensively, but so did the Trojans, who held the Sooners under 36% from the field. And although Oklahoma’s tall frontcourt was expected to pose matchup problems for the Trojans (which was compounded by the loss of Gibson), the Sooner big men were nonfactors in the game, with their two leading scorers–Blake Griffin and Longar Longar–combining for just seven points. USC also out-rebounded Oklahoma, 38-28. One problem area for the Trojans: their offensive sets. On numerous possessions, the Trojans struggled to get off good shots, and Jefferson (and later Mayo) frequently were forced to freelance in order to generate some offense. USC finished with just three assists on the evening.

Next up for the Trojans come the fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, who will battle USC at the Galen Center on Sunday morning.

Freshmen Jefferson, Mayo lead No. 22 USC to 66-55 victory over Oklahoma (AP via Yahoo!)
USC wins its sixth in a row (LA Times)