James Bouknight scored 18 points in a productive return from a left elbow injury and UConn recorded a 73-61 victory over Providence on Tuesday night in Storrs, Conn.

Tyrese Martin added 18 for the Huskies (10-5, 7-5 Big East), who shot 46.8 percent from the floor. UConn outscored the Friars 46-28 in the paint and won their second straight since a 70-59 loss at Providence on Feb. 10.

R.J. Cole, who scored a season-high 24 points Saturday at Xavier, added 13 points Tuesday for UConn, which split the eight games without Bouknight.

The Friars (11-11, 7-9) were unable to win their third straight game and fell to 4-8 in their past 12 games.

Alyn Breed paced Providence with 14 points, and David Duke added 11 despite 3-of-16 shooting from the floor. The Friars shot a dreadful 36.2 percent on field-goal attempts.

Bouknight was cleared to play earlier on Tuesday. In his first action since Jan. 5 against Marquette, Bouknight did not start but played 24 minutes before checking out for good with 6:29 remaining after colliding in the paint with Providence's Ed Croswell.

He spent portions of the remainder of the game riding an exercise bike behind the bench.

Bouknight, whose return was cloaked in secrecy, shot 7 of 13 from the field. He grabbed four rebounds and had two steals.

He made his first appearance with about 14 1/2 minutes left in the first half and scored his first points nearly two minutes later by grabbing an offensive rebound and soaring in for a thunderous right-handed dunk.

Bouknight converted two three-point plays later in the first half, and the Huskies took a 37-31 lead into halftime.

Cole added a three-point play that extended the lead to 44-34 nearly four minutes into the second half, and he hit a 3-pointer with 13:42 remaining for a 51-38 lead.

The Huskies expanded their advantage to 65-49 on a layup by Cole with 7:27 left and clinched the win on a 3-pointer by Tyler Polley with 3:31 remaining that made it 73-55.

--Field Level Media