Miami @ Connecticut preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 23, 2008 ) Miami-Florida 63, Connecticut 76

For a moment in their Charleston Classic semifinal contests on Friday it looked like perhaps Miami and Connecticut would pull off upsets and meet in the championship game. However, the Hurricanes couldn't complete a second rally and the Huskies gave up a late 3-pointer in regulation, and both schools find themselves in the consolation game on Sunday in the South Carolina tournament.

Miami pulled out of a 12-point hole to tie Florida 45-45 in the second half, but Florida went on a 31-8 and the Hurricanes couldn't recover in the 78-58 defeat. "We stopped taking good shots and we started forcing some things offensively, and when you do that not only do you not score, but you give your opponent a chance to score before you get your defense back," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "Florida took advantage of every one of our mistakes and every turnover ended up leading to an easy basket." Connecticut took a 54-49 lead over No. 21 Xavier on Tyler Polley's 3-pointer with 1 1/2 minutes left in regulation, but the Musketeers forced overtime on Naji Marshall's 3-pointer with 21 seconds left. The Huskies rallied from five down in the first OT, tying the game on a three-point play by freshman James Bouknight with seven seconds left before falling 75-74 when Christian Vital's driving jumper banked off the glass in the second OT.

TV: 1 p.m. ET ESPN2

ABOUT MIAMI (4-2): Junior guard Chris Lykes (13.8 points) scored a team-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting but had six turnovers against Florida, and junior Kameron McGusty finished with 10 points, five rebounds and a career-high-tying three assists. The 6-5 McGusty is averaging 14.7 points on 39 percent shooting; 6-3 senior Dejan Vasiljevic is producing 14.3 points, four rebounds and a team-high 17 3-pointers at 44 percent, and he scored 25 points and hit four 3-pointers in the quarterfinal win over Missouri State. From the second half of Miami's game against Quinnipiac through the first half of its matchup with Florida, an 80-minute stretch also featuring Thursday's victory over Missouri State, the Hurricanes shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47) from 3-point range.

ABOUT CONNECTICUT (3-2): Bouknight (13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds) scored 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and added four rebounds off the bench before becoming one of three Huskies to foul out. Junior guard Alterique Gilbert (10.4 points, 3.4 assists) finished with 14 points but shot 2-of-13, grabbed six rebounds and handed out five assists, while Polley (10.8 points) and Josh Carlton (12.4 points, 8.6 rebounds) each added 10 points apiece. The 6-2 Vital is having a great senior season, leading the team in scoring (16.4), rebounds (9.8), assists (3.8) and steals (3.6) while draining 25-of-26 free throws.

TIP-INS

1. UConn owns a 16-8 edge in the all-time series, but the teams haven't met since 2008.

2. The Huskies shot 30 percent for the game Friday but made 25-of-27 free throws and forced 21 turnovers for a 26-13 edge in points off turnovers.

3. Miami fell to 8-1 all-time in Charleston Classic play, including 7-1 in the tournament's bracketed games.

PREDICTION: Miami 70, Connecticut 66