Tampa, Fla. - With UConn possessing the intensity of a snail, Kevin Ollie turned to his bench for a spark early Tuesday night.

Reserves ignited a key surge and helped turn around the American Athletic Conference game.

"They kept us alive," said Ollie, UConn's head coach.

The Huskies regrouped from a sluggish start and secured a satisfying 58-44 victory over South Florida before 6,128 fans at the Sun Dome.

They headed back home with a two-game road sweep thanks to a productive bench, which also supplied a decisive contribution in Saturday's win at Florida. The reserves accounted for 41 points in the two wins.

"I want them to be ready," Ollie said. "I keep telling the guys to be on call because you never know when your name is going to get announced. They were ready. … It's good to have a bench now that's deep and comes in and give us a lift.

"It was like we were sleepwalking out in the first half and we couldn't make a shot. Then when I inserted those guys, the tempo and rhythm of the game picked up. It really bodes well for us in the future."

The game changed late in the first half after UConn trailed by as many as seven and misfired on 12 of its first 15 shots.

Ollie relied on unlikely sources for energy, going with freshman Rakim Lubin, junior college transfer Sam Cassell Jr. and junior Omar Calhoun.

Lubin hadn't even played in the previous two games and scored just seven points all season while Cassell has really struggled in limited action. Calhoun, on the other hand, continued his recent resurgence.

The trio accounted for 12 of UConn's last 16 points in the first half. Adding to the degree of difficulty, Ryan Boatright, who's still slowed by a bruised left thigh, watched from the bench for the final four minutes, 24 seconds.

Calhoun's medium range jumper handed the Huskies the lead for good (26-24) and Lubin's rebound basket capped a 9-0 spurt for a four-point halftime lead.

The Huskies (8-5, 1-1) continued to seize control early in the second half, extending their run to 21-2 and leading by as many as 21. Defensively, they sent the Bulls (7-9, 1-2) into a deep freeze, holding them to a season-low for points and 38.3 percent shooting.

"The second half was defense was great and relentless," Ollie said. "We got stops."

But the story of the night was the bench's inspired play.

Both Lubin and Cassell have Florida backgrounds, with the former being from Miami and the latter playing junior college ball last season at Chipola College in Marianna.

"I definitely felt like we needed a lift and we needed to pick things up intensity-wise and toughness-wise," said Lubin, whose parents, grandparents and siblings attended the game. "So I had to get in there and get a few boards and stuff like that."

Lubin finished with four points and a career-best three rebounds in 10 minutes while Cassell Jr. added three points and two assists and Calhoun added eight points. Backup point guard Terrence Samuel chipped in two points, four assists and a career-high tying seven rebounds.

"Before every game, we just tell each other we've got to help the guys out," Samuel said. "We're just playing with more confidence, each and every one of us."

It also helped that sophomore Amida Brimah dominated inside and protected the rim. He blocked a season-high six shots and altered several others. He also finished with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds.

"Amida is a special player," Ollie said, "so to have a presence back there and keeping him out of foul trouble will be a key for us going down the stretch."

Brimah, who attended high school in Miami, visited with friends after the game. The Huskies felt right at home during the trip.

Winners of four of their last five games, they're starting to build some momentum.

"A successful trip for us," Ollie said. "To get two down in Florida and get two road kills is a great job by our team. Everybody stepped up."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe