Mayo cleared after payback

EUGENE, Ore. -- The NCAA ruled Friday that USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo violated extra-benefits rules by accepting free Lakers tickets and must repay the face value of the tickets.

Mayo and his family made a $460 donation to charity based on the value of two tickets to Monday’s game between the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center. The tickets had been provided by Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, a longtime friend of Mayo’s.

USC briefly declared Mayo ineligible Friday and petitioned for his reinstatement, which the NCAA granted upon repayment of the value of the tickets. Mayo, the Trojans’ leading scorer at 19.7 points a game, will be eligible to play for the Trojans tonight against Oregon at McArthur Court.

“We are happy with the outcome of this situation and are glad we can put this behind us,” USC Coach Tim Floyd said in a statement. “I feel bad that I gave O.J. some incorrect advice. We all learned some lessons through this process.”

Floyd earlier in the week said he had cleared Mayo to accept the tickets from Anthony because of their long friendship.

It was unclear if the NCAA had ruled on whether Mayo also violated extra-benefits guidelines by attending a Clippers game in November as the guest of Trojans freshman guard James Dunleavy, whose father, Mike, is the Clippers coach. A USC spokesman said he believed accepting the Clippers tickets was a non-issue.

“I’m glad this is over with now,” Mayo said in a statement. “My focus has always been on playing basketball for USC. It was an eye-opening process. I have tried to be very careful when any potential NCAA issues are involved ever since I arrived at USC. I appreciate the assistance of our compliance staff to solve this matter and am just focused on our game tomorrow at Oregon.”

Sophomore Taj Gibson and freshman Davon Jefferson combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds during the Trojans’ 68-44 victory over Oregon State on Thursday, and the duo is a big reason USC tonight could win its fourth consecutive Pacific 10 Conference game for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

The 6-foot-8 Gibson gives the Trojans a ferocious rebounder and the 6-7 Jefferson is capable of pulling up for jump shots or flying through the lane for alley-oop dunks.

“Davon is just growing each day,” said Gibson, who had 14 points and 14 rebounds against the Beavers. “You can tell he’s getting more comfortable and he’s learning the game a little more because each time he plays he’s showing something new.”

Floyd said Thursday that “the play of our big guys was as good as it’s been together in a long time. . . . I told Taj and Davon they need to have games where they’re both in double digits [rebounding]. If they can do that then things are going to turn for us.”

For the first time in his three seasons at USC, Floyd did not make himself available to reporters traveling with the team on the day between conference road games. . . . Trojans assistant coach Gib Arnold declined to comment on whether he had been contacted about the Pepperdine coaching vacancy other than to say, “Nothing’s changed.” Arnold, a finalist for the Pepperdine job that went to Vance Walberg in 2006, was an assistant with the Waves for four years and is considered to be among the leading candidates.

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TONIGHT

at Oregon, 6, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- McArthur Court, Eugene.

Radio -- 710.

Records -- USC 12-6 overall, 3-3 Pac-10; Oregon 12-7, 3-4.

Update -- The Trojans have a chance to exceed the goal Floyd set of going 3-4 to start Pac-10 play given that five of their first seven games were on the road. A victory would give USC a third consecutive road sweep of the Oregon schools, which has not happened since 1966-68.

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