STORRS, Conn. _ If UConn ever stopped believing, its players and coaches never said so. If they got beaten down by all the tough losses, they never showed it. If injuries and issues made their task seem impossible, or even more difficult, they kept that to themselves.
All Dan Hurley and the Huskies did was promise things would turn around, insist they could beat any team in the American Athletic Conference and would learn from their struggles and turn losses into wins.
There is no reason to doubt them now. On Senior Night, the Huskies did everything they've insisted they could, and they took down the best team in the conference, Houston, 77-71, before 10,167 in AAC men's basketball at thunderous Gampel Pavilion.
Christian Vital scored 26 points, with a series of critical baskets as the Huskies pulled away over the last eight minutes. His steal and score, a signature play over his four seasons, ignited the closing kick. Freshman James Bouknight scored 17, despite foul troubles, and Isaiah Whaley scored 13, with five rebounds.
"It's been a crazy four years for me personally," Vital told the crowd after the game. "We had some brutal times together, but that man Hurley came in here with a plan. ... What we did this year was special, but we're not done yet."
UConn led by 11 in the first half, trailed by seven at halftime. Bouknight's drive and lay-in restored their lead to 11 with 3:11 left, and they were able to close it out as Vital went 6-for-6 from the line during the final 40 seconds, avenging a four-point loss at Houston on Jan. 23.
The Huskies (18-12, 9-8 in the AAC) have won four in a row, eight of 11 and beaten five teams to which they had lost earlier in the conference season. With this win over the 21st-ranked Cougars (22-8, 12-5), UConn will certainly have everyone's attention when the conference tournament starts March 12 in Fort Worth.
And, indeed, they may have earned the attention of postseason selection committees.
Caleb Mills scored 20 for Houston.
UConn honored its seniors before the game, Alterique Gilbert (nine points) and Vital getting the loudest receptions before taking part in the starting lineup. Gilbert played despite his recent back spasms, and Hurley lifted his suspension on Sid Wilson to give the Huskies eight active players.
Houston scored the first five points, then the Huskies went on a long run of, perhaps their best basketball of the season as the sellout crowd went wild. The Cougars were held scoreless for more than seven minutes as UConn staged a 16-0 run, finished by Whaley's jumper. Vital scored five during the sequence, and the Huskies were successful in getting to the line with penetration.
But the powerful Cougars were not to be put down that easily. Mills' 3-pointer ended the long scoring drought, making it 16-8, and Houston controlled play the rest of the half. Mills (12 points) and Quentin Grimes (10), both of whom come off the bench, provided the scoring punch as the Huskies could not keep up with the ball movement. Another three from Mills tied the game at 30, and with UConn cold from the floor, Houston finished the half with a 10-0 run, racing out to 37-30 lead with Grimes' 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Bouknight got a good bounce on a 3-point attempt early in the second half, the ball bouncing straight up off the iron and coming down through the net. Fouled on the shot, he completed the rare four-point play and the Huskies regained momentum, pulling within one as Houston's Nate Hinton picked up his third four and DeJon Jarreau his fourth. Vital hit a three to tie the game at 41 with just over 16 minutes left.
The game settled into a back-and-fourth contest after that, the game tied seven times, but the Huskies regained the lead. Bouknight's drive to the basket gave the Huskies a 56-53 lead with 8:01 left, but he picked up his fourth foul on the next possession.
Vital made a huge steal and score _ how many times has he done that in four years? _ to stretch it to five, then after a Houston foul, he scored on a pull-up jumper to give the Huskies a 60-53 lead with 5:11 to play.
