UConn played its most complete game this season on Thursday night.

 Its near perfect performance couldn’t have come at a better time.

 The Huskies kicked off a difficult three-game stretch with a convincing 70-45 upset of Tulsa, American Athletic Conference leader, at the XL Center. They posted their third straight win to improve to 14-9 overall, 7-4 in the conference.

 “The guys deserve this win and went out and took it,” coach Kevin Ollie said.

 They start a two-game road trip by visiting Southern Methodist University on Saturday and then head to Memphis on Thursday.

 No. 25 SMU moved into first place with a 75-69 win over Houston on Thursday. The Mustangs are 20-5, 11-2.

 “It’s back to the drawing board tomorrow,” senior Ryan Boatright said. “We’re going to practice extremely hard, and keep doing what we’re doing.”

  Here’s a post-game breakdown of the Tulsa game:

  -- Boatright continues to have a terrific senior year. He fired in 23 points, giving him 20 or more points in five of the last six games.

 -- Rodney Purvis was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench the last seven games. He helped put the finishing touches on the victory by scoring 13 of his 17 points in the second half.

  It was his season-high third straight game in double figures. The Huskies improved to 9-1 when Purvis scores at least 10 points.

 -- With Ollie sticking primarily with a small lineup featuring three guards, that meant less playing time for sophomore forward Kentan Facey, who came off the bench for the first time this season.

 Facey played a season-low 10 minutes and had two rebounds and one block. He failed to score for the fourth time this season.

 -- UConn broke out the press, which forced Tulsa to eat up valuable time before setting up its offense.

 “The press was good for us…,” Purvis said. We got them to turn the ball over and had some backcourt violations. … It gets you loose and creates a lot of energy.”

 -- UConn did everything better than it did in the first meeting on Jan. 13 when Tulsa won, 66-58.

 The Huskies showed poise under pressure, tying a season-low with seven turnovers. They had 15 in the previous meeting, leading to 20 points.

 “Our guys really took care of the cake – that’s what we call the basketball,” Ollie said.

 Boatright had just one turnover in 36 minutes. In the last four games, he’s had just three turnovers in 147 minutes of action.

 -- Block party: Sophomore Amida Brimah blocked seven shots, giving him 15 in the last two games, and altered several others.

  “We’re a team that scores in the paint and I think they did a good job taking away the paint,” Tulsa coach Frank Haith said. “And obviously they have the big fella, Amida Brimah, blocking shots.”

 -- Right from the start, UConn rattled James Woodard, who missed all seven field goal attempts and went scoreless from the first time this season. He came into the game averaging 14.9 points.

 -- UConn scored a season-high for points in a conference game. The Huskies reached the 70-point mark for the first time since Dec. 28 against Central Connecticut State University (81-48).

 -- The Huskies excelled on both ends of the court, shooting 51 percent and limiting Tulsa to 31.5 percent.

 -- Freshman Daniel Hamilton recorded his third double-double, finishing with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He must like playing against Tulsa, because he had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the last meeting.

  Hamilton entered the game ranked first in rebounds (8.7) in conference games.

 -- Ollie cleared the bench in the final minutes, giving his walk-ons and little-used reserves some brief time in the spotlight. Pat Lenehan recorded his first career block and grabbed his first rebound of the season while Dan Guest scored on a driving layup.

 -- The game marked the return of former UConn assistant coach Dave Leitao, who is on Haith’s coaching staff.