Gibson’s foul trouble no problem this time

When Taj Gibson went to the bench with foul trouble last season against North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, USC quickly found itself buried underneath an avalanche of Tar Heels layups, tip-ins and uncontested putbacks.

Thursday at the Galen Center, Gibson again found himself in foul trouble and the Trojans . . . kept one of the nation’s best front lines at arm’s length?

That was the way things unfolded during USC’s 66-55 victory over Oklahoma, as Gibson’s fellow forwards came up big.

The most conspicuous upgrade over last year, of course, was freshman Davon Jefferson. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward notched career highs with 23 points and nine rebounds in his first start, though USC Coach Tim Floyd said he was particularly pleased with Jefferson’s defense.

“I think sitting has really helped him, maybe more so than anybody on our club,” Floyd said of Jefferson, who was held out of the Trojans’ first three games so that he could improve his grasp of team concepts. “It would be great for all freshmen to sit over there and be hungry to get to the floor.”

Gibson’s understudies contributed as well.

Redshirt freshman Kasey Cunningham kept the motion offense humming with screen after screen. Junior RouSean Cromwell kept the ball out of the post by effectively fronting his man. And junior Keith Wilkinson hit a big three-point shot and converted a putback after grabbing a rebound.

“You can’t think about one guy going down as a loss; you have to think about it as another guy’s opportunity,” said Cromwell, whose eight minutes were one fewer than the career-low nine tallied by Gibson.

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Sophomore guard Daniel Hackett watched tape of the Oklahoma game Friday and was dismayed to see that he spent as much time prone as he did upright.

“I was always the guy that used to bang people; I never used to get banged, and [Thursday] they knocked me around and I didn’t like that,” said Hackett, who sustained injuries to both calves that required painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication.

Hackett said he was eager to return to the weight room and rebuild strength after losing 25 pounds because of his broken jaw. He said he had gained five pounds since having the wire removed from his jaw last month but was having trouble maintaining the weight.

The 6-5, 202-pound Hackett said he was also disappointed that he failed to harness his emotions during a trying game in which he missed all six shots from the floor and finished with four points and four turnovers.

“There was yakking out there and my shot wasn’t falling, but it’s all part of the game,” Hackett said. “I was just supposed to handle it calmly and I let my emotion take over and got a little frustrated on the bench during a timeout. I’ll work on that.”

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Sophomore guard Dwight Lewis will again get a chance to compete against players who were nearly his teammates when the Trojans play host to No. 4 Kansas on Sunday at the Galen Center. “That was my first choice, to go to KU,” said Lewis, who initially committed to the Jayhawks, “but then after a while thinking about it with my family, I wanted to come out here and play for Coach Floyd.” Lewis scored three points in 19 minutes last season during USC’s 72-62 loss in Lawrence. . . . Freshman guard Angelo Johnson is expected to play Sunday despite suffering a bruised knee against Oklahoma. . . . USC had only three assists against Oklahoma, its fewest since having one against Washington State on Feb. 25, 1988.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com