Mayo made a nonfactor this time around
By Bobby Gordon
Feb. 18, 2008 10:00 p.m.
Normally O.J. Mayo is the guy USC would want to have the ball.
But with his team down eight points with 1:42 remaining, the Trojans’ freshman guard traveled, sending the ball the other way.
Then, down six points with 52 seconds left to play, Mayo found himself with the ball again after forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute missed the front end of a one-and-one. As Mayo turned to dribble up the court, guard Darren Collison surprised him by pressuring the ball, causing Mayo to travel again and helping to seal the Trojans’ fate.
Mayo had a nightmare of a game Sunday, scoring a career low of four points and turning the ball over 10 times.
With guard Russell Westbrook playing tough defense on him all night long, the freshman phenom was held to single-digit scoring for the first time in his collegiate career.
Westbrook’s turning Mayo into a nonfactor and the Bruins’ ability to create turnovers proved to be vital Sunday night. UCLA won by 10 points and scored 18 points off turnovers.
“I’ve known O.J. since about eighth grade, and I’ve never seen a player take that talented of a player like O.J. out of the game like Russell Westbrook did tonight,” freshman Kevin Love said. “(We) forced him into 10 turnovers. That was big for us. Overall, (that) probably won us the game.”
Coming into the rematch between the crosstown rivals, Mayo had been averaging 20.2 points per game and just 3.7 turnovers. His worst outing had been against Delaware State on Dec. 17, when he scored only 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Westbrook proved to be a much tougher adversary than any of the Hornets, frustrating Mayo throughout the night.
“Playing D: It’s what I do,” Westbrook said. “Just going out and making every shot tough for him.”
Mayo’s shots proved to be very tough, as he went 2-of-8 from the field on Sunday night due to the defensive clinic put on by Westbrook.
All season long the sophomore guard has had the assignment of taking on opponents’ best guards, and against Mayo he showed why. Westbrook added a big notch to his belt with his performance against Mayo by always being within inches of him and not taking unnecessary chances.
“He played solid,” coach Ben Howland said. “He didn’t gamble at all. He did a great job of just trying to stay in front of him, contest the shots, trail him everywhere.”
Westbrook was also aided by a little bit of familiarity. The contest was not just the second time the two had played against each other; the two occasionally squared off over the summer.
Still, Westbrook credited his teammates’ defensive help as crucial.
“It helps a little bit,” Westbrook said. “(But) the summer and this is a whole lot different. You’ve got a lot of team ball going on (here), especially today, my teammates really helped me out on the defensive end. It helped us out.”
Mayo’s only two points in the first half came on an alley-oop dunk that was the result of some defensive confusion. Westbrook got picked up on a back screen and the defensive switch never happened, leaving Mayo open for the dunk.
When the teams met at Pauley Pavilion earlier in the year, Mayo was also held to two points in the first half on free throws, and he was scoreless from the field. In the second half of that game however, Mayo went on a tear and ended the day with 16 points. On Sunday, Mayo’s second half looked a lot more like his first, getting only two more points on a jumper midway through the period.
USC coach Tim Floyd hinted that Mayo’s strained groin may have been affecting him, but the freshman still was on the court for the entire 40 minutes.
“He had his struggles,” Floyd said. “I’m sure there were some plays he’d like back. But we had a good effort tonight. O.J. probably was not 100 percent, but we’re not using injuries as an excuse.”
