Commentary | USF can't sustain early surge against defending champion UConn
TAMPA
The dream was there.
Defending national champion Connecticut was in the house, and the biggest Sun Dome crowd of the season at 6,000-plus was on hand to witness USF make some history.
The Bulls had reason to feel confident. Hey, Shabazz Napier is now in the NBA, and this version of the Huskies lost to Yale earlier in the season.
These Bulls are supposed to play a better brand of basketball than those Ivy Leaguers, especially with new coach Orlando Antigua and all that Kentucky bluegrass he shared with John Calipari.
But basketball often comes down to the simple things like rebounding and taking care of the basketball, and USF fell short in those areas.
Connecticut outscored USF 18-7 on second-chance points, 34-26 in the paint and 14-9 on points off turnovers.
The Bulls made it interesting for a half, trailing 28-24 at the break, but if you are going to ride a dream you better get on it fast and take charge.
They wilted before intermission and never recovered in a 58-44 loss Tuesday night before a national television audience.
USF led 24-19 with just less than three minutes left before the break when the Huskies scored nine straight points to close out the first half. It was part of a 21-2 run UConn went on to take a commanding 40-26 lead five minutes into the second half.
This is a young Bulls team that hasn't learned how to play hard for 40 minutes, but Antigua says that excuse is getting old.
"I don't know if we can continue to say that. These guys have played some games." he said. "We had an unbelievable crowd. The fans came out, the students came out, and I wish we could've given them something to be excited about."
Point guard Anthony Collins sliced up the Huskies' interior defense for most of the first half, but Connecticut woke up in the second half and took his game away, cutting off the lanes and limiting him to one assist and 2-for-9 shooting for the game.
"Our defense was great in the second half, and we took better shots, not settling for the three," Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie said. "We were 1-for-10 on treys in the first half, and it was like we were sleeping out there. Collins was controlling the game and getting in our paint and finding their (big) guys. In the second half, we got up on his pick-and-rolls."
It's hard to win games when you have more turnovers than assists, which the Bulls did 10-7 and shot a dismal 22.2 percent from 3-point land (2-9).
USF has a couple of nice big men in 6-8 sophomore Chris Perry and 6-11 freshman Ruben Guerrero from Spain.
But they couldn't handle UConn's 7-foot sophomore Amida Brimah from Ghana, who blocked six shots and caused numerous shooters to alter their shots while finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds.
"We knew their size would be a factor. When you penetrate, you've got to find those other guys and we didn't," Antiqua said. "In the second half, we didn't come out with the same fire, and that is something we have to correct. We have to play a full 40o minutes. You are not going to win many games when you have more turnovers than assists."
UConn (8-5, 1-1) had its way in the second half, dropping in 12 of 21 shots and knocking down 3 of 4 from beyond the arc when the Bulls (7-9, 1-2) got lax on defense and gave the Huskies some clean looks.
Antiqua says he will show the Bulls how they played in the first 12 minutes of the game and get them to stretch that out for another 28 minutes.
"That can be difficult, but that's what we are here to do," he said.
Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports.
This story was originally published January 7, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Commentary | USF can't sustain early surge against defending champion UConn."