University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
15-12,6-8AAC
University of South Florida
11-16,4-10AAC
MBB Defeats USF, 78-71
2/23/2020 6:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's basketball team avenged their 15-point loss to USF earlier in the season with a 78-71 victory over the Bulls Sunday afternoon at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies improve to 15-12 while USF drops to 11-16.
Christian Vital led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, while also pulling down six rebounds and dishing out three helpers. Additionally, Vital's three-pointer at the 11:52 mark of the second half made him the American Athletic Conference leader in all-time career made three pointers.
James Bouknight scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half while Brendan Adams and Jalen Gaffney each chipped in 10 points apiece.
UConn got off to a slow start out of the gates but quickly got back into the game, turning a five point deficit into a five point lead, 17-12, following a 10-0 run. A pair of makes from the charity stripe by Vital gave UConn a 31-20 lead, its largest of the half, while the team led at the half by six, 31-25.
Coming out of the break, USF outscored UConn, 13-7, to battle all the way back and knot the game at 38-38 with 15:08 to go. The next seven minutes turned into a grind – The Huskies took a brief 46-42 lead but the Bulls would not go down without a fight, erasing its deficit to draw even once again.
Vital's triple at the 7:42 mark gave UConn a 54-51 lead and the Huskies never looked back. Whaley converted a three-point play, Vital and Bouknight followed with back-to-back highlight-reel dunks and Brendan Adams converted a second-chance layup to put the home team ahead 63-58.
The Bulls cut their deficit to three on two separate occasions, but Vital and Bouknight closed the game scoring 14 of UConn's final 15 points down the stretch to secure the victory.
