MEMPHIS, TENN., MARCH 14, 2019 – Christian Vital scored 25 points and UConn shot nearly 68 percent from the field on its way to an 80-73 victory over USF Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament at the FedEx Forum.
Jalen Adams added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists in his second game back from injury, and Tarin Smith finished with 14 points and four assists.
AAC Defensive Player of the Year
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) returned after missing two games and scored a team-high 19 points to go along with seven assists and two steals.
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) scored 15 points and had four assists and
Michael Durr (Atlanta) added 11 points and four rebounds.
UConn used 11 straight points, making five consecutive shots, to build an 11-point lead in the first half. At that point, the Huskies were 11 of 15 from the field and would later push its lead to 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from three-point range over the first 16 minutes.
Rideau scored the final seven points of the first half and helped trim the deficit to 39-26 at halftime.
Two free throws from Adams put UConn ahead 70-55 with just under five minutes left in the second half. That's when USF used 10-1 run over the next 3:16 to cut the lead to six points with 1:35 remaining.
Collins brought USF within five points with a three-pointer with 34 seconds left, but UConn finished 7-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to advance into the quarterfinals for a matchup against No. 1 seed Houston.
Quotable
Head coach Brian Gregory on the game:
"Give UConn a lot of credit in terms of their first half. Their run, and their transition offense really put us in a bind. We are on our heels in transition. They made some threes in the first half, which kind of set the tone for the first half. I thought in the second half we played a lot better, just couldn't get that lead under 10 until the last four minutes. Our guys, as they've done all year-long, continued to fight the whole game, just didn't make enough baskets to cut into that lead earlier in the second half. Defensively, we didn't play as well as we need to play to beat a team that is as explosive offensively at the guard spot as they are. A big key for us was to do a good job on Carlton because he's been playing so well. We got him in foul trouble and we kind of eliminated him from the game. But, you know, they're a different team when Jalen Adams plays because he creates shots for other people and he's able to make shots. We weren't as aggressive as we needed to be in the first half, but played better in the second half, but in this league, against that type of competition, it's not good enough."
Key Stats
13 – UConn made 13 three-pointers and shot 54.2 percent from outside the arc.
13 – USF pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second chance points.
11 –
David Collins scored 15 points and has scored in double figures in 11 straight games.
Notable
- Laquincy Rideau moved into ninth place on the USF single-season assist list with 162.
- USF moved into fourth place on its single-season rebounds list with 1,246.
- Laquincy Rideau registered his eighth game this season with at least seven assists.
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About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa. In his first season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to its first 10-plus win season since 2013-14.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids and appeared in the NIT eight times.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
