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After Slow Start, Huskies Take Control, Beat USF 58-44

A lot of players came and went for UConn, Kevin Ollie subbing in clusters almost like a hockey coach.

But late in the first half, the Huskies found the right combination and seized control. Finishing the half with a flourish, and starting the second half with a surge, UConn completed a nifty little Sunshine State two-step, defeating South Florida 58-44 before 6,128 Tuesday night at the Sun Dome.

“A successful trip by us,” coach Kevin Ollie said, “starting the new year right. Get two down in Florida, get two road kills, a great job by the team.”

Amida Brimah had 13 points, eight rebounds and six blocks, a dominating performance against a pretty stubborn Bulls’ frontcourt.

The Huskies (8-5), after the overtime loss to Temple in their conference opener on New Year’s Eve, got some swagger back in Gainesville, beating Florida in a power nonconference game. Now, they’ve broken into the American Athletic Conference win column, shaking off what has become an obligatory slow start, especially at USF, with a 21-2 run sandwiched around the halftime break. The Huskies’ first 16 points were divided equally among eight players, but they missed 15 of their first 18 shots, and their first nine three-point attempts.

With Ryan Boatright on the bench with two fouls, UConn, down by as much as seven, finished the half with a 9-0 run to take a 28-24 lead. The bench — Terrence Samuel, Sam Cassell Jr., Omar Calhoun and freshman Rakim Lubin, who didn’t get into the previous two games — gave the Huskies a spark. UConn got 17 points from the bench.

“They came in and they did what they were supposed to do,” said Boatright, who scored 10 points in 31 minutes. “We came out flat and they changed the game. They played hard and changed the whole tempo.”

South Florida (7-9, 1-2 in the AAC) led 24-19 after a turnover and Bo Ziegler’s layup with 2:47 to go in the half. But Brimah, 5-for-6 from the floor, scored on a tip-dunk, and Calhoun (eight points) hit UConn’s first three-pointer to tie the game. Then on the next possession, with the Bulls on him at the arc, Calhoun put it on the floor and scored off the dribble to put the Huskies ahead to stay.

Samuel, who had two points, seven rebounds and four assists, held things together while Boatright was on the bench. “That’s a great contribution from your backup point guard,” Ollie said.

Bulls point guard Anthony Collins was controlling the game much more than UConn could tolerate, but as the half ended the Huskies reverted to their defense, which has become their signature in a season of offensive fits and starts. UConn had six “kills” in the game, the term Ollie uses for sequences of three defensive stops in a row.

“We live off the defensive end,” Boatright said. “I don’t think we’re as talented on the scoring end, the offensive end. So we’ve got to pride ourselves on the defensive end. The more times we get stops, the better opportunities we have.”

UConn was outrebounded 11-6 to start the game, then held USF 10 minutes without a rebound at either end, and ended up with a 33- 29 edge. After the 3-for-15 start, UConn went 21-for-36, hitting four three-pointers in a row, and ended up shooting 47.1 percent for the game

“They made some adjustments,” USF coach Orlando Antigua said. “You’ve got to give them credit defensively. They ramped up their energy. Gave them too many second opportunties at the end of that first half. I think that’s where they got a little separation.”

After UConn’s loss to Temple, Ollie got after Brimah, the 7-foot sophomore, to start rebounding more aggressively. He had 18 in the two games in Florida, and if the stat-keepers shortchanged him at Gainesville, where he was credited with only two blocks, he got every one marked in the book on Tuesday night.

“To have six blocks is unbelievable,” Ollie said, “and he probably altered four other [shots].”

Most encouraging for UConn, Brimah was able to stay out of foul trouble and on the floor 33 minutes, collecting only two fouls in the game.

“That’s never happened before,” Brimah said, smiling ear to ear after visiting with a large group of friends up from Miami, where he played high school ball. “So I had to take advantage of it.”

Cory Allen Jr. led the Bulls with 12 points, but was just 4-for-12 from the floor as, UConn’s defense again kept an opponent under 40 percent, at 38.3.

The Huskies, with four wins in the last five games, come home to play Cincinnati in another AAC game on Saturday at 11 a.m.

“Hopefully our offensive [performance] keeps evolving,” Ollie said, “but how we win championships is rebounding, defending the basketball with all five and playing aggressive on both ends, and that’s what we’re starting to do.”