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Trojans can't Hackett against Arizona team

Sophomore Daniel Hackett injures his hip in the first two minutes of the game.

Rhett Bollinger

Media Credit: Avi Kushlan | Daily Trojan Not enough | Freshman Davon Jefferson scored 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting, but Arizona pulled away for an 80-69 win at Galen Center.

The Trojans' quest for a quality win at home will have to wait yet again.

In a back-and-forth game between USC and Arizona, it was the Wildcats who used a late run to win a critical Pac-10 matchup against the Trojans, 80-69, in front of a record crowd of 10,258 at the Galen Center.

The Wildcats (15-6, 5-3 Pac-10) used a 12-3 run, sparked by offensive rebounds, to take an eight point lead with just 3:41 left and the Trojans (13-7, 4-4) couldn't recover from the deficit.

The Trojans were outrebounded by the Wildcats, 37-30, and allowed 16 offensive rebounds, giving Arizona plenty of second-chance points.

"The rebounding difference was probably the biggest number in the game for us," USC coach Tim Floyd said.

But the biggest difference could have been that the Trojans played almost the entire game without starting guard Daniel Hackett, who injured his hip just two minutes into the first half.

Floyd said Hackett may have chipped a bone in his hip or broken a rib, but X-ray results won't be released until today.

The Trojans missed Hackett's perimeter defense as the Wildcats made 10 of 21 3-pointers in the game.

"Daniel is a critical part of our team defensively," Floyd said. "He's a shutdown defender on the perimeter."

Guard Angelo Johnson, who had the stomach flu Wednesday, filled in for Hackett most of the game and scored seven points and had six rebounds.

"Angelo came in and worked his tail off," guard O.J. Mayo said. "He played his heart out."

Mayo opened the game making five of his first six shots, but made only four of his next 17 shots, finishing with 23 points.

Forward Davon Jefferson had 19 points while fellow forward Taj Gibson scored 17 points before fouling out.

But it was Arizona's forward Chase Budinger and guard Jawann McClellan that really shined offensively.

Budinger finished with 29 points and eight rebounds, while McClellan scored a season-high 23 points.

"We played well offensively, but we didn't have an answer on the defensive end for Budinger and McClellan," Floyd said.

The Trojans led 56-55 with 7:36 remaining before the Wildcats went on a 12-3 run to seal the game. Gibson said it wasn't because the Trojans were tired with the injury to Hackett hurting the team's depth.

"We weren't gassed," Gibson said. "They just ran a good offense. We just didn't play solid defense. They just got offensive rebounds at the end and it really hurt us."

The Trojans' biggest lead of the game came in the first half as they took a 28-21 lead with six minutes left, but they quickly lost the lead as the Wildcats closed the half with a 13-3 run to take a three-point lead at halftime.

The Trojans said they have to deal with the tough loss as they get ready to play Arizona State, led by freshman James Harden, on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

"We're just going to have to move on as we have an important game against Arizona State on Saturday," Floyd said.

"[They are] a much different team, we'll be seeing zone

[defense] for 40 minutes. We'll have a short time to prepare for a terrific Arizona State team."

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