Slowed down by fast food

Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett probably won’t be eating at a certain fast-food restaurant for a while after they became ill over the last two days.

The USC freshmen suspect they contracted food poisoning Wednesday night that sapped their energy a day later during the Trojans’ 86-79 double-overtime victory over No. 14 Washington.

“Probably undercooked meat. It was pretty bad,” said Gibson, who nonetheless registered his seventh double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds in 41 minutes.

Gibson was so ill that he had to return to the locker room late in the first half and received intravenous fluids at halftime. But the forward returned to score 13 points in the second half and two extra sessions.

“It was a lot of heart and a lot of aggressiveness wanting to win,” he said.

Hackett was unable to start and played only six minutes. Both players said they felt a little better after practice Friday, but they were unsure whether they would be closer to full strength today when USC plays host to Washington State at the Galen Center.

Hackett, who like Gibson was prescribed antibiotics, said he was still feeling weak. “I had soup [Thursday] night and that’s all I’ve had in two days.”

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Coach Tim Floyd said it’s no coincidence that the Trojans have significantly reduced their turnovers the last two games with sophomore forward Keith Wilkinson playing a more prominent role.

USC committed a season-low 10 turnovers against Wichita State and had only 11 turnovers in 50 minutes against Washington after averaging 19.8 turnovers through its first 12 games. Wilkinson played a season-high 22 minutes against the Shockers and then topped that with a career-high 36 minutes against the Huskies.

“He’s a facilitator and a ball mover and a safe passer who takes care of the ball for us,” Floyd said of Wilkinson, who had a total of one turnover in both games, the first starts of his career.

TODAY

vs. Washington State,

3 p.m., FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Galen Center.

Radio -- 710.

Records -- USC 11-3 overall, 1-0 Pacific 10 Conference; Washington State 11-2, 0-1.

Update -- The Trojans are trying to go 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2001-02 season. They’ve already defeated consecutive ranked opponents for the first time since beating Stanford and California in March 2003 during the Pac-10 tournament.

ben.bolch@latimes.com