The second-half collapse was all too familiar to Providence (12-8, 4-4 Big East), which led South Florida by 12 with 2:05 left Saturday night before losing in overtime. But this time the Friars were on the other end, and the home crowd celebrated by storming the court even as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“I was pretty confident that we’d bounce back. I couldn’t have dreamed that we’d bounce back like this,’’ Providence coach Keno Davis said.
Kemba Walker also scored 17 points for the Huskies, adding eight rebounds and seven assists. UConn (13-7, 3-4) lost for the first time under substitute coach George Blaney, who took over Jan. 19 when Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun took a medical leave.
Sharaud Curry scored 18 points, and Bilal Dixon had 11 points and 12 rebounds in Providence’s biggest win since last year’s defeat of then-No. 1 Pittsburgh.
UConn was ranked as high as 10th in The Associated Press Top 25 before three straight losses dropped it out of the polls. It was just one week, though, before the Huskies beat St. John’s and then-No. 1 Texas to jump back into the rankings at No. 19.
The Huskies led, 58-55, with 9:36 left before PC scored the next 14 points and 26 of 31 until Walker made a meaningless 3-pointer in the final minute.
Maine 56, BU 54 - Reserve Mike Allison put in the rebound of his own missed layup at the buzzer, lifting the visiting Black Bears (14-6, 6-1) past the Terriers (11-10, 6-3) and into first in America East.
Jeff Pelage had tied it for BU with a layup with four seconds left.
Murphy Burnatowski scored 14 points to lead the Black Bears, who won their sixth straight to move a half-game ahead of Stony Brook atop the conference.
Jake O’Brien and John Holland each scored 13 points for the Terriers. Corey Lowe had 12 points, but hit only 5 of 17 shots.
UMass 87, Saint Joseph’s 80 - Ricky Harris scored 23 points and Terrell Vinson added 16 as the Minutemen used a 15-2 run midway through the second half to get past the host Hawks and snap a five-game losing streak.
