USC remains king of the second division. Now the Trojans will go about upgrading their status in the Pacific 10 Conference.
The 61-51 victory over seventh-place Washington State at the Galen Center on Thursday was another trip to the dentist, but it is now behind the sixth-place Trojans. Now they can set about sinking their teeth into first-place Washington on Saturday.
USC, 16-9 overall and 7-6 in the conference, prepared by winning its first game in nearly three weeks. Dwight Lewis scored 17 points and Taj Gibson had 16, as the Trojans built a 14-point second-half lead, then scrambled down the stretch to put away the seventh-place Cougars.
"We needed that game," guard Daniel Hackett said. "It does a lot to build our confidence. Washington State is a team that can cause a lot of trouble. But the energy was there."
While USC was rebuilding its competitive fire, Coach Tim Floyd tried to douse a blaze. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" will air a program on so-called "package deals," the hiring of someone related or who has a close relationship to the player to get the recruit.
The show will include a segment on Hackett, whose father, Rudy, is the Trojans' strength and conditioning manager. Rudy Hackett was hired in 2005, a year before his son enrolled at USC. Daniel Hackett is not on scholarship, but he receives free tuition because his father is an employee of the university.
"I didn't come here to be with my dad, I came here to play for Coach Floyd," Hackett said.
Floyd reacted strongly to the idea he brought in Rudy Hackett to land his son.
"That bridge was crossed three years ago, with the NCAA, with the Pac-10, with our compliance office," Floyd said. "We have not done one thing wrong.
"As far as Rudy Hackett being at this university, he was here a year before Daniel Hackett got here, and he is far more qualified than 95% of the assistant coaches in America. He played in the NBA, he played on a Final Four team at Syracuse, coached and played in Italy. He was highly recommended by the No. 1 AAU team in Southern California.
"If you are going to be the coach at USC, you better have a relationship with the coach of the Southern California All-Stars, Pat Barrett, who recommended [Hackett]. I hired him and I'm very glad we did."
There were times Thursday the Trojans showed some of that vim and vigor on the court.
