Storrs — Paige Bueckers headed to the bench for her first break of the game just 35 seconds before halftime Sunday at sold-out Gampel Pavilion.

Judging by the way the UConn star almost effortlessly dominated play, Bueckers still looked fairly fresh. She already had piled up 19 points.

Then again, South Florida certainly must have been tired of watching Bueckers score in a variety of ways while helping No. 2 UConn build a double-digit lead that it would gradually extend.

What transpired after halftime pleased Bueckers and coach Geno Auriemma more than her scoring output.

With Bueckers playing a supporting role on the court, her young teammates carried the offensive load, accounting for 27 of the team’s 30 points in the third quarter.

The Huskies went on to post an 86-49 victory.

Basically, that’s the way UConn wants to operate this season, needing Bueckers to be aggressive at times but not over-relying on the redshirt senior guard.

“I definitely want to start out every game aggressive and set the tone for what we want the rest of the game to look like,” said Bueckers, who had just three points after halftime and finished with a game-high 22 on 9-for-10 shooting. “But everybody was getting touches, everybody was playing defense, getting transition buckets.

“And it just happened naturally. Nobody was taking over, or playing 1-on-1. We were playing as a team and playing together, getting everybody involved. … It was really the perfect recipe.”

Sunday’s victory pushed Auriemma to within one of tying the the Division I college basketball coaching record for wins held by retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer (1,216).

It was a satisfying all-around performance for the Huskies (2-0). They ran an efficient offense, shooting a sizzling 66.7% overall, including going 13-for-16 in the impressive third quarter. They’re on-ball defense bothered the Bulls (2-1), who had 14 turnovers and shot just 36.2%. They also scored 58 points in the paint.

An aggressive Bueckers made sure the Huskies never trailed, scoring nine of her team’s first 17 points. Then her teammates made sure Bueckers, who played 28 minutes, would get some rest in the second half by extending an 18-point halftime lead to as many as 39 points.

“We scripted about five plays, maybe, before we came out,” Auriemma said. “We wanted to get some momentum going with (Paige) and Sarah (Strong). In past years, I had to do that. But this year, she puts that on her own shoulders. She is attacking the basket way more often.”

The Huskies played their most impressive stretch in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulls 30-14.

Bueckers’ final basket of the game – a 3-pointer at the 7:48 mark – jump-started a 22-8 run. A freshman forward, Strong (13 points, seven rebounds) and sophomore Ashlynn Shade (15 points) were particularly impressive, providing a spark on both ends of the court.

Strong’s 3-pointer and Shade’s steal and layup pushed the gap to 67-37. Another steal and layup by Shade handed UConn a 73-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

It was a sign that UConn’s young players are maturing and taking more responsibility on the court.

“They’re gamers,” Auriemma said. “That’s the only way you can explain how quickly they’ve picked up some things. … You want them to get a little better every game and today was a perfect example of that.”

Auriemma still isn’t comfortable having Bueckers on the bench for too long. Odds are Bueckers will play more than 28 minutes Friday against North Carolina in Greensboro.

“I’m still working on that,” Auriemma said. “I’m not 100% confident, completely secure in knowing that we can. But in the early part of the season, I’m going to find out how much we can. I do it in practice a lot. And I know I’m going to have to do it in games. And that’s going to force others to step up.

“Even though Paige was out there in the third quarter, a lot of other people did a lot of the damage.”

UConn remains unbeaten in the series with South Florida, which has lost all 34 meetings.

g.keefe@theday.com