Coach Jim Calhoun made a major statement by benching seniors Gavin Edwards, Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson for the final 16 minutes Saturday.

UConn's second unit provided a spark against South Florida The Huskies still lost, 75-68.

The Huskies, 17-14, 7-11, received the No. 12 seed in the Big East Tournament, facing No. 13 St. John's Tuesday afternoon in New York.

Here's some post-game reaction from Calhoun and the Huskies:

-- Calhoun on his drastic move to put Charles Okwandu, Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Darius Smith and Donnell Beverly into the game at the 16:04 mark: "I made a coach's decision and I tried something and it worked. ... For 16 minutes, that group played very well together. They played hard."

Those Huskies replaced sophomore Kemba Walker, freshman Ater Majok and the three seniors.

Calhoun added that he almost did the same thing in Wednesday's loss at Notre Dame. 

-- Calhoun on his second unit's inspired play: "They made up 10 points in a 10-minute period by just staying with it. That's what life is and that's what basketball is."

-- Calhoun plans to use the second unit in the Big East Tournament. Robinson and Dyson will not start Tuesday for the first time this season, according to Calhoun.

That means more playing time for Beverly, Smith, Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriakhi, Walker and Majok who all saw action in the final 16 minutes.

-- Calhoun on his team's NCAA chances: "We better win some games in the Big East Tournament."

-- Freshman Ater Majok on Calhoun's coaching move: "It's his decision. He's the coach. Everybody has got to be ready to play."

-- Robinson didn't seem upset by the benching. "It wasn't hard (to sit). We just had to cheer our teammates on. ... I'm good. Looks can be deceiving."

-- The quick change left Smith, who has played in only five Big East games this season, little time to prepare.

"Mentally, you've got to jump right into it...," Smith said. "You've got to play your role."

-- It was a rough ending to the final regular season game for UConn's seniors. "Definitely not the way I thought it would end," Edwards said..