Storrs — An energized and feisty UConn basketball team firmly stood its ground from start to finish on Wednesday.

Even before tip-off, the Huskies showed that they weren't going to be pushed around by American Athletic Conference foe Central Florida, winners of eight of its last nine games.

Sophomore Christian Vital exchanged words and shoves with a UCF player during pre-game warmups and then again during the postgame handshake line.

"Just fake energy from the other team...," Vital said. "They were just trying to get us out of our game because they knew they were going to have a tough one tonight."

The Huskies answered every challenge, leading all the way for the first time this season while securing a confidence-building 62-53 victory at Gampel Pavilion. They own their first two-game winning streak since early December.

Coach Kevin Ollie called it his team's best defensive effort of the season. UCF shot just 36.5 percent from the field and committed 15 turnovers, leading to 20 points for the Huskies. UConn's scoring output also was noteworthy considering UCF had held AAC opponents to 47.5 points per game.

"It was a good effort from our guys, especially on the defensive side," Ollie said. "We came out with some passion and some fire. ... We executed down the stretch, defensively and offensively. We were able to come out with a huge win."

The Huskies (9-7, 2-2) maintained their positive energy throughout the game and made big plays every time the Knights (12-5, 3-2) closed to within striking range. The AAC's top free throw shooting team converted 20 of 21 free throws, including six straight in the final one minute, eight seconds to seal the win.

While tapping into their usual offensive sources — Vital (a game-high 18 points), junior Jalen Adams (13 points) and redshirt junior Terry Larrier (13 points) — they also received a terrific two-way effort from forwards Isaiah Whaley (four points, six rebounds, a career-five blocks) and Josh Carlton (four points, two rebounds, one block). The two freshmen helped contain 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall (11 points).

Another encouraging sign: The Huskies also didn't fold under late-game pressure as they've done at times this season.

"We've given up a lot of leads this season," Whaley said. "Really we were just trying to stay composed and be more patient and not turn it over."

The Huskies led 30-21 at the break and the Knights got as close as one (37-36) in the second half.

When UCF cut the gap to 48-44 with 6:45 remaining, UConn mounted a pivotal 8-0 run. Adams set up Whaley for a dunk to get things started.

Adams hit a short fade-away jumper to increase the lead to 10 and Antwoine Anderson converted a baseline runner to make it 56-44 at the 4:04 mark. Carlton and Whaley each had a block during the stretch.

The Knights never recovered.

With his big basket, Adams went over the 1,000 point mark for his career.

"It was a lot more meaningful bucket rather than scoring in a blow-out," said Adams, who's been battling a cold. "It definitely meant a lot to me to score when my team needed it the most. ... I think things can turn around for this team if we just continue to play the way we did today."

The Huskies are showing some fight, but Ollie would prefer that they keep their emotions under control. It was the second straight game that there was an altercation during the postgame handshake line.

On Wednesday, Vital traded heated words with UCF's B.J. Taylor, who's sidelined with a foot injury. Then another UCF player tapped Vital in the back of the head.

"We definitely want to keep that in check," Ollie said. "We don't want anybody suspended from our team, so we've got to do a better job, especially when emotions are high, keeping our emotions in check. But the other team can't be an instigator also. I thought a couple of times the other team has been an instigator and we've just been protecting ourselves."

It was a physical game, too. Larrier went to bench late in the game after being elbowed in the cheek.

The Huskies don't plan on backing down when they're on a two-game road trip that starts at Tulane on Saturday.

"If we take care of the things that we need to take care of and look out for each other and have each others' backs, there's not many teams we should lose to in this conference," Vital said.

g.keefe@theday.com