HARTFORD, Conn. _ The UConn men had all the old trappings on Sunday, the big crowd, the big-time opponent.
And the huge effort. With sheer effort, the Huskies fought back from 12 points down and gave themselves a chance to beat Wichita State, pulling to within three, getting a shot-clock violation and a possession with 10.6 seconds left.
Sid Wilson, on the bench most of the last month, was called upon with Tyler Polley injured, and earned the right to be on the floor and set up for the shot, taking Alterique Gilbert's kick-out pass and hitting the 3-pointer from the corner to send the game to overtime.
The Huskies fought, scratched and clawed through two overtimes, left all they had on the floor _ but left too many points at the free throw line _ and lost, 89-86 to the No. 23 Wichita State in an electrifying American Athletic Conference game.
Wilson had 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks before fouling out in overtime. Freshman James Bouknight, who started in Polley's place, rose to the occasion despite four fouls, putting the Huskies ahead, eventually scoring 16. Two missed free throws in four attempts by Josh Carlton at the end of the first OT kept UConn from putting it away. Gilbert missed two big free throws in the second OT. With a chance to force a third OT, Christian Vital, who led UConn with 25 points, missed a well-guarded 3-pointer.
Wichita State (15-1, 3-0 in the AAC) had the ability to score with hands in their faces, in traffic, and the Shockers added to their collection of impressive road victories, now eight in a row.
The Huskies (10-6, 1-3) are beginning a brutal stretch, which continues with road games at Villanova and Houston, that will tell if they have any chance to make something of Dan Hurley's second season as coach, which he anticipated would be filled with "excruciating losses" just like this.
Carlton had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Alterique Gilbert 14 points, but the Huskies went 26-for-68 from the field. And they missed Tyler Polley, who is out for the season with a knee injury, and his 3-point proficiency. The Huskies were 5-for-19, a lot of those good looks. UConn went 29-for-42 from the line, not counting a few front-end misses on one-and-ones. WSU went 19-for-24.
Wichita State, which was above 50% most of the game, was never able to pull away, never leading by more than 12, with 12:38 to play, and the Huskies eventually wore them down and cooled them off, holding them to 32% in the second half..
Jaime Echenique scored 19, Erik Stevenson 16, Jamarius Burton 13 and Dexter Dennis 16 for the Shockers, who have won 29 of 34 since losing at UConn a year ago.
UConn announced before the game that Polley, coming off the best game of his career, tore his left ACL in practice on Friday and would be lost for the season. Polley was introduced and the large crowd gave him a nice hand, as he waved back.
The game started off at a fast pace, and the Huskies hung in, despite their usual series of missed opportunities on fast breaks and around the basket. The Huskies took a 10-8 lead on a three-point play by Bouknight, who started in Polley's spot, with 14:45 to go.
But though UConn was playing disruptive defense, prompting 12 first half turnovers from a WSU team that was averaging 12 per game, the Shockers were shooting the ball efficiently and took a five-point lead. Sid Wilson, who re-enters the rotation with Polley out, came off the bench and provided a spark, taking a charge at one end, hitting a 3-pointer at the other to tie the game, 18-18.
The Shockers surged again, taking a 33-23 lead on Echenique's jumper. UConn was missing from the floor, but getting to the line to stay in the game. Wilson again had a key sequence, a block at one end, a follow-up throw-down at the other, and Gilbert's 3-pointer helped cut the Huskies' deficit back to five. Though they were outshot 54 to 32 percent, the Huskies went to the break trailing just 35-30.
The Huskies missed 9 of their first 11 shots of the second half, the misses taking the life out of the crowd as Wichita State opened up an 12-point lead, 53-41, with 12:38 to play.
