Davon Jefferson

Daniel Hackett's first meal after having the wire removed from his broken jaw was somewhat predictable for an Italian native. "Pizza and pasta," the USC sophomore guard said. "It tasted like heaven." Hackett is also hoping for a blissful return on the court, which could come as soon as Thursday when the Trojans play The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.

Keith Wilkinson is averaging only three points and has made only two of nine shots as a starter, but those aren't the numbers his coach is tracking. In the three games since the sophomore forward moved into USC's starting lineup, the Trojans are averaging only 11.7 turnovers. Before that, they had averaged 19.8 turnovers a game. "He just wants me to pass and facilitate and [avoid] turnovers because we've had so many turnovers and that's been killing us," Wilkinson said of Coach Tim Floyd.

Kami Craig, the only high school player on the U.S. water polo national team at the 2005 FINA Junior Women's World Championships in Perth, Australia, scored a goal in the team's 11-9 victory over Russia in the championship game Sunday. Craig, a senior at Santa Barbara High who plans to play at USC, also scored a goal in a 5-4 semifinal victory over Australia on Saturday. It was the second year in a row that the U.S. won the title.

MAZATLAN, Mexico -- The extent of most USC basketball players' Spanish is limited. Freshman guard O.J. Mayo knows como estás (how are you?). Freshman forward Davon Jefferson can say callate (shut up) "and a couple of other words that are not appropriate." By the end of their whirlwind three-day trip to this seaside resort, the Trojans hope they won't add pesadilla (nightmare) to their vocabulary. Recent developments aren't encouraging.

Dozens of spectators were turned away Friday night, but those who made it into the sold-out Reseda Cleveland gymnasium saw Nick Young score 31 points and the Cavaliers, ranked 12th in the Southland by The Times, defeat No. 6 Woodland Hills Taft, 69-64, in a West Valley League boys' basketball game. Cleveland (16-3, 2-1 in league play) used man-to-man pressure defense to avenge a 61-60 loss to Taft (13-3, 2-1) two weeks ago.

Season ticket sales for USC men's basketball are "up significantly from last year," when the Trojans sold about 5,000 including student seats, senior associate athletic director Steve Lopes said Thursday. Lopes declined to provide a specific figure but said games at the 10,258-seat Galen Center against UCLA, Arizona and Kansas were sold out. Only a few tickets remain for games against Oklahoma on Nov. 29 and Stanford on March 6, Lopes said.

Lynwood got past one defending state champion Friday night. Just in time to face another. The Knights (10-3, 2-0 in league play), the seventh-ranked boys' basketball team in the Southland, knocked off top-ranked Compton Dominguez, 58-48, in a San Gabriel Valley League game at Lynwood by holding the Dons to 29% shooting from the floor. Davon Jefferson had 23 points and six rebounds to lead Lynwood, which plays No. 4 Los Angeles Fairfax today.

The end of the Jordan Farmar era was expected to provide something of a learning experience for the Woodland Hills Taft boys' basketball team this season. But with Farmar now starting as a freshman in the UCLA backcourt, the Toreadors still seem to be following his example. Taft (6-1), ranked No. 18 in the Southland by The Times, posted its second consecutive upset by defeating No.

With the pool of prospective Division I state champions growing by the week, Los Angeles Fairfax took the opportunity Saturday to show it still occupies the throne. The Lions, behind 27 points from Duke-bound senior Jamal Boykin, defeated Lynwood, 60-55, in the featured game of the California Hoops Challenge at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Fairfax, the defending state champion, came into the game ranked No. 4 in the Southland by The Times but had not faced a challenging opponent since December.

O.J. Mayo will spend the months leading to the NBA draft working on ballhandling and other basketball skills. He has already visualized a draft-day handshake with NBA Commissioner David Stern, which would follow his selection as a lottery pick. "I practiced it a lot," he said Thursday during a news conference at USC's Galen Center.