Associated Press

South Florida's Dominique Jones (20) reaches to block a shot by Virginia's Sylven Landesberg on Monday night in Tampa, Fla.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Virginia was unable to duplicate its offensive production from Tony Bennett's coaching debut and failed again Monday night to display Bennett's trademark defense.

South Florida shot 53.3 percent from the field and handed the Cavaliers their 11th straight loss in the state of Florida, 66-49.

Virginia arrived at the Sun Dome without two veteran post players who did not make the trip, Assane Sene and Jamil Tucker, and saw starting post player Mike Scott foul out with 8:35 remaining.

South Florida, coming off a 9-22 season, already had the game well in hand by that point. After scoring the last four points of the first half to take a 31-27 lead, the Bulls scored the first nine points of the second half to complete a 13-0 run.

The Bulls (2-0) led by as much as 20 points, 64-44, following a dunk by senior Dominique Jones in the final minute.

Jones finished with a game-high 22 points and the Bulls got 18 points and eight rebounds from 6-foot-10 sophomore Augustus Gilchrist, who was ineligible when South Florida lost in Charlottesville 77-75 last year.

Gilchrist, from Clinton, Md., originally signed with Virginia Tech but never played for the Hokies. A later attempt to play for Maryland was to no avail.

Virginia (1-1) twice led by six points early in the first half and had a 19-15 lead with just over 6 ¹₂ minutes remaining.

"I thought the first 15 [or] 17 minutes, I thought the effort was terrific," Bennett said on his post-game radio show. "We had a little lapse at the end of the half; then, we got down 10 so quick to start the second half.

"You could see it got quiet in the huddles. If a guy made a mistake or missed a shot, [his] head was hung. I think they lost a little bit of their fight. You can't allow that to happen."

UVa sophomore Sylven Landesberg had 12 points at the half but did not score from the field in the second half and finished with 14. Scott was next with nine points and five rebounds in 16 minutes.

"He's a bit of a presence," Bennett said. "I think, when we lost him, they knew that we didn't have any scoring punch inside and that it was all perimeter-oriented."

Five Virginia players had scored in double figures three days earlier in an 85-72 victory over Longwood.

The Cavaliers made 60 percent of their field-goal attempts in that game, but shot only 32.7 percent from the field Monday night, including 27.7 percent in the second half.

Junior Mustapha Farrakhan, who had matched a career high with 17 points in the opener, was 1-for-9 against the Bulls. As a team, the Cavaliers were 2-for-12 on 3-pointers.

Virginia returns home Thursday for a meeting with Rider, which opened its season with an 88-74 road victory over 18th-ranked Mississippi State.

It will be the third game of a three-game suspension imposed upon Sene for a violation of team rules. Tucker is taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with personal matters.

In their absence, UVa was outrebounded 35-24.

Guard Calvin Baker, unable to practice for several weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, was one of three UVa players to make their season's debut along with Solomon Tat and walk-on Will Sherrill. Baker had five points, including a 3-pointer, in 15 minutes.

VIRGINIA (1-1)

Scott 4-9 1-2 9, Farrakhan 1-9 1-1 3, Zeglinski 1-4 0-0 2, Landesberg 5-14 4-4 14, Jones 3-10 0-0 7, Evans 1-1 0-0 2, Baker 2-4 0-0 5, Sherrill 0-0 2-2 2, Spurlock 0-0 1-2 1, Tat 0-0 0-0 0, Meyinsse 0-1 4-6 4. Totals 17-52 13-17 49.

SOUTH FLORIDA (2-0)

Gilchrist 5-9 7-7 18, Famous 4-4 4-7 12, Howard 1-4 0-0 2, Jones 10-18 1-1 22, Mercer 1-3 1-2 3, Dumars 0-1 0-0 0, Leemow 3-4 0-1 9, Kardok 0-0 0-0 0, Noriega 0-0 0-0 0, Burwell 0-1 0-0 0, Fitzpatrick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-45 13-18 66.

Halftime--South Florida 31-27. 3-Point Goals--Virginia 2-12 (Baker 1-1, Jones 1-7, Landesberg 0-1, Zeglinski 0-1, Farrakhan 0-2), South Florida 5-11 (Leemow 3-3, Gilchrist 1-1, Jones 1-4, Howard 0-1, Mercer 0-1, Dumars 0-1). Fouled Out--Scott. Rebounds--Virginia 24 (Jones, Scott 5), South Florida 35 (Famous, Gilchrist 8). Assists--Virginia 7 (Farrakhan, Landesberg, Zeglinski 2), South Florida 11 (Jones 4). Total Fouls--Virginia 17, South Florida 17. A--4,193.