South Florida took the first step toward rejoining the contenders in the Big East win by withstanding a furious Vermont comeback effort and posting a 61-59 victory on Saturday.

The Bulls (1-0) led 31-27 at halftime and watched Vermont twice draw to within two points in the final three minutes and draw to within 60-59 on a layup by Luke Apfeld with 13.6 seconds remaining.

USF’s Shaun Noriega made one of two free throws to up the lead to 61-59 with 9.5 seconds left. After two 30-second timeouts, Vermont’s Four McGlynn missed a layup that would have tied the game.

South Florida enabled the comeback by its inability to make free throws; the Bulls were only 13 of 24 at the line. But Vermont was equally inept there, making only 5 of 10.

Ron Anderson Jr. led South Florida with 16 points. Others in double figures were Noriega (15), Augustus Gilchrist (12) and Victor Rudd (12).

Vermont (0-1) got 17 from McGlynn, 13 from Matt Glass and 10 from Apfeld.

South Florida defeated a Vermont team that’s won more road games than any other team over the last two years.