“Next question,” O.J. Mayo said when asked what that combo undershirt/protective pad was that could be seen encircling his rib cage under USC’s new skintight Nike uniform tops.

Turns out it’s a new “impact” piece of undergear that has a built-in row of thin, soft, conforming protective pads built into it.

With Mayo set to play James Harden man-to-man and with the way the Sun Devils set physical screens for Harden, Mayo wanted to get through the game with no bruising so his offensive game didn’t suffer.

But a quick foul nine seconds into the game caused USC Coach Tim Floyd to switch Daniel Hackett onto Harden and May just kept his new gear in the game.

It obviously didn’t affect his shooting as he hit three three-pointers, tying him with UCLA’s Jason Kapono for the second-most threes in Pac-10 history for a freshman. Oregon’s Tajuan Porter is tops all-time with his 110 last season.