Dwight Lewis scored 19 points and Taj Gibson had 15 points and 14 rebounds as Southern California raced away from Georgia Tech at the start of the second half for a 76-57 win.
Freshman DeMar DeRozan had 17 points and Daniel Hackett added 15 as the Trojans (8-3) improved to 8-0 at home for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
The Trojans led just 36-34 at halftime but outscored the Yellow Jackets 40-23 in the second half.
``We just talked a great deal about how horrible we've been in second halves of games,'' Floyd said. ``It was ridiculous and it was time for it to stop. We really had been brutal.''
Lewis Clinch scored 25 points for the Yellow Jackets (8-2), who were held to just 29 percent shooting in the second half and 35 percent for the game.
The Yellow Jackets were denied a two-game sweep on their trip to the West Coast after beating Pepperdine on Saturday.
``We played three halves of good basketball,'' Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said of the trip. ``That second half, you know, I wish we could go back out here and play it all over again.''
USC took control early in the half with a 10-0 run highlighted by its defense and transition game.
DeRozan, who scored the Trojans' first six points of the half, opened the blitz with a baseline jumper and Lewis followed with a 15-footer on an up-and-under move to get by Georgia Tech's Zachery Peacock.
On the next possession, USC forward Keith Wilkinson blocked Clinch's shot and DeRozan led a fast break, hitting Gibson with a no-look pass for a slam dunk.
Daniel Hackett then broke loose for a dunk, intercepted a pass and saved it to Wilkinson before flying out of bounds.
Wilkinson fed DeRozan for another dunk and a 50-36 lead.
``We stress defense so much,'' DeRozan said. ``We don't have to really worry about our offense. Our offense is easy. We've got a lot of scorers that can do a lot of different things. It's just the defensive end that we've got to really work on.''
Said Hewitt: ``Some of it was a loss of composure. We rushed a couple of shots, had a couple of bad turnovers that led to easy baskets.''
The Trojans lost freshman forward Leonard Washington to an ankle sprain in the first minute. Washington, who had a season-high 17 points Saturday against North Dakota State, was battling for a rebound with Peacock.
It was just the second meeting between the teams and the first since the second round of the 1992 NCAA tournament when Georgia Tech's James Forrest hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to upset the Trojans.
``Anytime you get a win, it's a step forward,'' Hackett said. ``I think we needed to beat a quality team for our resume.''
The Jackets were able to stay close in the first half behind the efforts of Clinch, who had 16 points, including a 3-pointer to send Georgia Tech into the locker room down by only two.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/12/216278