Los Angeles, CA -- (Sports Network) - James Florence scored a team-high 30 points and Shaddean Aaron added 13 as Mercer upset 18th-ranked USC, 96-81, in the season-opening game for both teams at the Galen Center.

Florence was 11-of-23 shooting and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, while Aaron made five out of his 10 shots. Calvin Henry chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds and Brian Pfohl added 12 points and nine boards for Mercer (1-0), which finished 13-17 last season.

O.J. Mayo led all scorers with 32 points on 12-of-27 from the floor and also grabbed seven rebounds for USC (0-1), which has dropped its last three season openers. Angelo Johnson contributed 17 points, while Taj Gibson scored 13 and had a game-high 14 rebounds for the Trojans, who struggled from the field, shooting only 29 percent in the first half.

Mercer got off to a quick start taking a 15-6 lead following a Henry three- pointer in the early going, then extended its advantage to 38-20 with 6:16 left in the first half after Aaron knocked down a jumper. The Bears continued to dominate, but USC got a pair of free throws by Dwight Lewis with 26 seconds left in the stanza to make it a 47-30 game heading into the intermission.

With the upset minded Bears holding 51-37 lead early in the second half, USC put together a 14-5 run, cutting its deficit to 55-52 following a Gibson slam with 12:50 left in the contest. However, Mercer ran off six in a row to widen its advantage to 61-52 with just 11:01 remaining and never looked back, keeping USC at an arms length, then opening up a 81-64 lead with just over four minutes left after a jumper by Michael Ellis.

The Trojans weren't able to get anything going the rest of the way and Mercer completed the surprising 96-81 upset.

Game Notes:

USC will play at The Citadel on Thursday night, while Mercer will host Alabama on Tuesday...The Bears shot 59 percent from the field, while USC made only 40 percent of its shots.