HOUSTON _ As frustrating losses mounted, coach Dan Hurley admonished the UConn men to keep at it, keep fighting, keep giving themselves a chance to win.
The Huskies came to Houston and did just that, taking another ranked team down to the wire. But the weary pattern continued, the Huskies, and particularly Alterique Gilbert, melted down again at the end. Houston came from six points back over the final minutes to beat the Huskies, 63-59, at the Fertitta Center in AAC men's basketball on Thursday night.
UConn (10-8, 1-4 in the conference) has lost three in a row to ranked teams, and could easily have won all three. In a grueling, foul-filled match, the Huskies took a 50-44 lead when Gilbert made a 3-pointer with 5:05 left, signaling the crowd to shoosh.
That gesture did not, as they say, age well. Gilbert missed two free throws on the next possession, and turned it over on each of the next two, allowing the 25th-ranked Cougars to get back in the game and take the lead. Gilbert finished the night with 3 for 11 from the floor, 1 for 7 from the line with six turnovers.
Meanwhile, Sid Wilson, Christian Vital and James Bouknight all fouled out as the Huskies were whistled 29 times, Houston 24.
Caleb Mills' jumper with 48 seconds left put Houston (15-4, 4-1) ahead for good, 57-55. Mills, who scored 20 points, followed with two free throws.
The Huskies got a last gasp when Houston's DeJon Jarreau, who also scored 10 points, drew a technical foul, and had a turnover. But Hurley, just about out of players, or perhaps fed up, had walk-on Temi Aiyegbusi on the floor for the last possession and, in a bizarre sequence, set him up for the final shot. He missed a short jumper, and the Cougars ended the crazy game with two Mills free throws.
Christian Vital scored 14, and Isaiah Whaley had 13 with 11 rebounds as Josh Carlton spent most of the game on the bench. Houston shot just 36.2%, but UConn wasted another fierce defensive effort with terribly inept offense, shooting 36.4% with 15 turnovers.
The Cougars, outrebounded in the first half, had a 23-11 edge in the second.
The Huskies came out ready to grind it out, and held the lead through an ugly first half, filled with fouls, neither team shooting well.
Vital hit an early 3-pointer, and made two midcourt steals that resulted in baskets, but he spent much of the half on the bench after picking up his second foul. Carlton, too, got into foul trouble, but backup Whaley picked him up with seven points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes.
Despite 13 fouls, and 2-for-10 shooting on 3-pointers, the Huskies took the lead, 16-15, on two Whaley free throws with 8:02 left in the half and held it. Bouknight, back in the game despite two fouls, scored on a spectacular coast-to-coast move to make it 23-20, Jalen Gaffney created space and hit a jumper to make it 27-23.
By the final minutes of the half, Vital, Bouknight, Whaley and Wilson all had two fouls and Carlton three, but Vital checked back in for the last possession and threw in a contested 3 to give the Huskies their biggest lead, 30-25, which held to the break.
The Cougars came in with a plus-10 rebounding advantage over their opponents, but the Huskies were scrappy and winning the battle on the boards, 22-19, and holding the usually selective shooting Cougars to 32.1 percent, 9-for-28. Vital had 10 points.
Akok Akok hit a short jumper to put the Huskies up seven at the start of the second half, but they missed a number of easy shots around the rim, on fast-breaks and put-backs alike, and they prevented them from opening up a double digit lead. Brison Gresham hit two at the line to pull the Cougars within three points, and both Bouknight and Vital picked up their third fouls with nearly 16 minutes still to play.
Both teams continued to miss badly, but Wilson finally hit a three for UConn to put the Huskies up 37-31 with 13:14 to go. Both benches were frustrated with all the fouls, but Hurley's frustration boiled over and a technical was called with 11:14 remaining, the Huskies up two. But UConn clung to the lead as Jarreau made 1 of 2.
Whaley completed a 3-point play, and after a Houston shot clock violation, Vital drew a foul and made both free throws to put the Huskies up six again, 42-36. Bouknight made a steal, and scored off a pass from Gilbert, to make it 44-38 with 7:30 remaining.
Gilbert made a 3-pointer to put the Huskies up six, and signaled the crowd to shush, but next possession he missed two free throws, and then turned it over twice in a row to let the Cougars back in, and Mills' 3-pointer pulled them back within one with 3:50 to go.
