The South Florida Bulls (7-6) welcome the No. 9 Connecticut Huskies (10-1) to the St. Pete Times Forum on Wednesday night in their first game in Big East play. The defending national champion Huskies have won eight of the nine prior meetings between the teams.
The Bulls lost their most recent game, 53-51, to the Southern Miss. Golden Eagles. South Florida trailed by eight with less than two minutes to play, but pulled to within a single point when Augustus Gilchrist nailed two foul shots with six seconds to play. Following a USF intentional foul, Rashard McGill put the Golden Eagles up two points. Gilchrist's tying jumper attempt at the buzzer missed the mark.
Connecticut, meanwhile, continues to roll, having won each of its last five games following an upset loss to the Central Florida Knights. The Huskies defeated the Fairfield Stags, 79-71, on Thursday behind 24 points from Shabazz Napier. The Stags dug themselves out of a 20-point halftime deficit with remarkable three-point shooting, connecting on 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) of their shots from beyond the arc.
Tipoff for Wednesday's matchup between the Bulls and Huskies is set for 9 Eastern on ESPN3.com and Bright House Sports Network.
For more on the Bulls, please visit Voodoo Five, SB Nation's USF blog. For the perspective from the other side, please visit The UConn Blog, SB Nation's Connecticut blog.