This USC win is off the grid

O.J. Mayo got a front-row view of the rebuilding project that awaits him next season, and it appears there may be even more work to do in the stands than on the court.

An announced crowd of 4,127 inside the Galen Center Saturday afternoon watched USC notch a spirited but sloppy 69-63 victory over St. Mary’s. Actual attendance appeared to be about 2,000, and there were fewer than 100 in the student section.

After leaving with about two minutes to go in the Trojans’ first triumph in their new building, Mayo ventured over to the Coliseum, where more than 90,000 shoehorned into the 83-year-old football stadium to watch USC play California in a sport that still stirs the Trojans faithful.

It’s apparently going to take more than a first-class facility and the potential of a first-rate recruiting class to do the same for the basketball program.

“Today we didn’t expect a great crowd because of the football game,” Coach Tim Floyd said. “Listen, we’re going to have to earn that, and we will. We’ll get it done as we grow with this program.”

The Trojans didn’t appear to grow much on Saturday. They led St. Mary’s comfortably for most of the game until a spate of second-half turnovers helped the Gaels (3-2) whittle a 13-point deficit to three with just under four minutes left.

“A lot of that is my fault,” said USC freshman point guard Daniel Hackett, who had two of the Trojans’ 21 turnovers. “I’m still learning how to play the game and controlling the ball. It’s not going to be easy at the beginning. I’m going to make mistakes.”

The Trojans (1-1) pulled out the victory by making 12 of 16 free throws in the final 3 minutes 39 seconds.

Lodrick Stewart led USC with 19 points and seemingly as many hustle plays, which pleased Floyd because the senior guard didn’t mope after making only one of five shots in the first half.

Freshman forward Taj Gibson continued to give the Trojans the kind of interior presence they sorely lacked last season, with 15 points on six-for-seven shooting. He also took a stitch in the head after getting hit in the second half but returned and seemed fine afterward.

The most promising sight for USC fans might have been the image of a smiling Mayo on the video scoreboard, though the prized recruit’s jacket-and-shoes ensemble was blue and gold, UCLA’s school colors.

“I understand they have the Mayo,” said former Trojans great Bill Sharman, one of about 100 former players who attended Saturday’s game. “I’m really excited about that.”

Some season-ticket holders’ enthusiasm for USC basketball may have been dampened by a series of delays that resulted in tickets being distributed later than expected. Several season-ticket holders said Saturday that they had still not received their tickets and had to have them reprinted upon their arrival at the Galen Center.

The delays probably hurt attendance for USC’s opener against South Carolina, which at 7,512 was more than 2,500 short of capacity. But the drop-off in attendance from the first game to the second probably had more to do with pigskin than paper.

Surveying the arena before the game, former USC player Tex Winter said he “looked forward to the day when this is filled for every ballgame, and I think it will be in time.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com