Trojans cut Woodside down to size in narrow win

The murmurs about No. 10 began before the game.

He’s the one. The one who scored 60 points. In a single game.

The crowd at the Galen Center eyed North Dakota State’s Ben Woodside as he warmed up Saturday, wondering how the lionized point guard would face off against USC.

But Woodside left the court Saturday afternoon with 14 points, and it was USC’s No. 10, DeMar DeRozan, who stood out as the Trojans squeaked by with a 61-57 victory.

DeRozan, the heralded freshman forward from Compton, scored a career-high 18 points. Freshman Leonard Washington also had his best game, scoring most of his 17 points inside.

“Leonard’s a beast down there, and DeMar, he’s getting confident more every day,” junior guard Daniel Hackett said.

Forward Taj Gibson maintained his confidence despite struggling in the first half against the Bison. The junior from New York had 16 of his 18 rebounds in the second half as USC overcame a five-point halftime deficit to improve its record to 7-3.

“We locked it down toward the end but that was a scary game,” said Gibson, who scored 10 points.

The 6-foot-5 Hackett stayed glued to the 5-11 Woodside for most of the game, doing everything from waving a hand in the star point guard’s face to dodging between bodies to put himself between Woodside and the basket. Hackett and the Trojans held Woodside 12 points below his season average, forcing him to pass to teammates.

Woodside, who shot 35 free throws in his 60-point performance against Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 12, got to the line only six times against USC.

“I’m trying to do my best to deny him the ball and keep him in front of me, but it was a fight,” Hackett said. “I did take it personally when he scored on me, though.”

Hackett had refused to talk to the media Monday night after a win over Pepperdine in which the Trojans nearly blew a 23-point halftime lead. Saturday’s performance had him in better spirits, but he said the team still needed to improve.

“We’re a work in progress,” he said.

USC trailed, 34-29, at halftime, but soon took the lead behind DeRozan, who went on a six-point run that began when he pulled down a rebound, dribbled to the other end of the court and dropped in a layup. The 19-year-old then picked off a pass and drew a foul. After making both free throws, he thrilled the half-empty arena with an alley-oop dunk on an inbounds pass from Hackett, giving USC a 43-39 lead.

The lead changed several times before DeRozan put USC ahead for good, 58-57, on a jump shot with 1:22 left. North Dakota State’s Josh Vaughan missed a potential tying three-pointer with less than 30 seconds remaining.

“The game, on our side, was full of ‘life’s not fair’ plays, and ‘SC had an athletic squad and put up a fight,” North Dakota State Coach Saul Phillips said.

DeRozan, who had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots, shrugged off his performance. He said he was just trying to move without the ball, set screens and look for easier shots. “Just really fitting into it all,” he said.

The Trojans have two more games to fit the pieces together before opening conference play at Oregon. USC plays Georgia Tech on Monday and Oral Roberts next Sunday.

Trojans Coach Tim Floyd expressed optimism after DeRozan and Washington helped USC improve to 6-0 at home.

“We couldn’t have won without the two freshmen,” he said. “That’s encouraging going into Pac-10 play.”

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VS. GEORGIA TECH

Monday, 7:30 p.m., Galen Center, Fox Sports West: The Trojans play their next-to-last nonconference game before opening Pacific 10 play at Oregon on Jan. 2. Georgia Tech senior forward Alade Aminu had 18 points and 11 rebounds Saturday in an 86-58 win over Pepperdine as the Yellow Jackets improved to 7-2. USC beat Pepperdine, 91-77, on Monday.

-- Gary Klein