UConn did what it had to do during its two-game home-stand.

  Both wins came over teams residing in the lower half of the American Athletic Conference standings.

  The Huskies led both Central Florida and South Florida by double digits but couldn’t put either away until late in the game.

  The Bulls played without their best player, Chris Perry, who’s the second leading scorer and top rebounder.

  Nothing comes easy for this team.

  “That’s the difference between being good and great, the great teams put teams away,” sophomore Rodney Purvis said. “We’re working toward trying to be great, so we’ve just got to continue to work and get better and better and never let up.”

  UConn (11-7, 4-2) moved into fourth place with Sunday’s 66-53 victory at the XL Center in Hartford. Senior Ryan Boatright scored a career-high 28 points and Purvis added 17.

  Here’s a post-game breakdown:

  -- The Huskies seized the lead for good early in the game and led by as many as 13. But the Bulls got as close as two points in the second half.

  “I thought our guys tried to come out with energy,” coach Kevin Ollie said. “We got a lead, but at the end of the day we’ve got to put teams away.”

 -- UConn’s 16 turnovers helped keep South Florida in the game. The Bulls scored 18 points off those mistakes.

  The Huskies had six turnovers in seven possessions during a roughly four and a half minute span in the second half.

  “I do not like 16 turnovers, especially coming off of one our best games,” said Ollie, referring to UConn’s 21 assists and eight turnovers in Thursday’s win over Central Florida.

  -- Purvis has spent a lot of time shooting extra free throws. He had converted just four of his last 17 free throws entering Sunday’s game.

  “Terrible,” Purvis said of his slump.

  His hard work paid off.

  Purvis went 8 for 12 from the line. Both numbers represented career highs.

  “I’m getting my confidence, just knowing I can go to the free throw line and make the free throw other than just shooting it..,” Purvis said. “It’s just taking your time and making your shot because it’s a free throw, it’s free.”

  The Huskies converted 22 of 29 attempts.

  -- Sophomore center Amida Brimah was his usual intimidating inside presence, blocking five shots and altering several others.

  He said he’s less likely to try for blocks in the first half because he doesn’t want to get into foul trouble. He’s more aggressive in the second half.

  “In the second half, I try to go for everything,” said Brimah, who had four blocks after intermission on Sunday.

  Brimah had a quiet offensive game, scoring just one point. He took only one shot and also had six rebounds in 29 minutes.

  It was his second lowest scoring output this season. He went scoreless in a loss to Duke on Dec. 18.

  -- The Huskies scored a significant amount of their points on three-pointers (24) and free throws (22). They had only 16 points in the paint.

  -- Man of Steal: Junior Phil Nolan had a career-high three steals. He had only nine in his previous 80 career games.

  -- Junior Omar Calhoun started for the third straight game. He had quiet afternoon, scoring just three points on 1-for-4 from the field. He averaged 11 points in the previous two starts.

  -- UConn had one its best rebounding game of the season, holding a 35-18 edge. The plus 17 margin represented a season-best.

  -- The Huskies improved to 7-0 when leading at halftime. They held a 30-20 edge.

  -- South Florida coach Orlando Antigua on Boatright’s second half scoring spree:  “He saw that ball start going through the basket. And when you’re as talented as he is, and he gets a little groove going, it’s hard to stop the flood gates.”

  -- Offensive struggles: UConn has gone eight straight games without scoring more than 67 points.

  -- You know something is going to happen when freshman Daniel Hamilton is on the court. He had seven points, a team-best 10 rebounds and four assists. But he also committed five turnovers to add to his team-high total.

  -- Up next: UConn leaves Wednesday on a two-game road trip, visiting Cincinnati (14-5, 5-2 ) on Thursday and Houston (7-12, 0-8) on Sunday.