USC's Mayo steps up and takes the blame
He says his four-point, 10-turnover performance is the reason his team lost to UCLA, 56-46. His teammates say he did a lot of things right.
While his teammates dressed and met up with their families to eat and commiserate over USC's sloppy 56-46 loss to UCLA on Sunday night, O.J. Mayo was taking a long, hot shower.
Hoping, no doubt, that the memory of his four-point, 10-turnover performance for the Trojans would vanish down the drain with the soapsuds and sweat.
For the first time in what has been an outstanding freshman season, Mayo didn't hit double figures in points.
His streak of 23 consecutive double-figure games to start a career stands as a school record, but that meant nothing to him in the silence of the losing locker room at a quickly emptying Galen Center.
When he emerged, clean if somewhat soggy, Mayo was somber.
Mayo, who had been averaging 20.2 points, knew that the Trojans could have won this game, that although he wasn't scoring, his team managed to stay close for much of the second half against the workmanlike but lackluster Bruins.
He took the loss hard.
But he took it like the man he physically appears to be, not the first-year player he is.
Mayo declined to use as an excuse the groin pull he suffered last week, saying it didn't really matter even though it clearly limited his mobility.
Having to play the full 40 minutes couldn't have helped -- three of his turnovers occurred in the last four minutes, with the Bruins still within reach -- but Mayo wasn't taking the easy way out.
"I don't think my groin had anything to do with my decisions with the ball," said Mayo, who missed six shots and scored his only points on a dunk with 1 minute 43 seconds left in the first half and a jumper with 10:58 left in the second half.
He took responsibility for what was a team loss, a wasted chance for the Trojans (15-9, 6-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference) to sweep the season series from the Bruins (22-3, 10-2) and gather momentum for the last few regular-season games and the Pac-10 tournament.
He may or may not be ready for the NBA, but he was prepared to stand up and acknowledge his missteps Sunday.
That should be recognized in measuring the man separately from the player.
"I didn't step up and play well and didn't take care of the ball. I turned the ball over too many times," he said.
"We had many opportunities, we just turned the ball over too much and I didn't step up when my teammates needed me."
Not that they blamed him.
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