Hartford - The sight of Ryan Boatright limping to the bench in obvious discomfort was a real downer for UConn on Wednesday afternoon.

The only thing more painful to watch: The Huskies trying to execute their offense without their leading scorer and playmaker, or shooting foul shots.

The loss of Boatright contributed to UConn's demise in its American Athletic Conference opener against Temple at the XL Center. Poor offensive execution and dreadful free throw shooting prevented them from overcoming the injury.

UConn lost a hard-fought 57-53 overtime decision.

The Huskies nearly overcame those stumbling blocks by putting forth a great effort. Boatright suffered a deep left thigh bruise late in the first half and played just one possession in the second half before leaving for good, finishing with season-lows in points (two) and minutes (17).

"The game came down to execution," coach Kevin Ollie said. "Our guys played with heart. … Down the stretch, we just didn't execute on the offensive end. But I can't really fault those guys for how hard they fought and got back in the game. I can't question our defense."

The Huskies (6-5, 0-1) harassed Temple (10-4, 1-0) into just 31.5 percent shooting and held a 46-37 rebounding edge. They trailed for all but two minutes, 37 seconds, but still found a way to force overtime on Rodney Purvis' breakaway dunk with 12 seconds remaining.

But they converted an icy 8-for-19 from the foul line overall and looked like a rudderless ship without Boatright at the helm, shooting 38.6 percent from the field and committing 16 turnovers.

Still, they had a chance to win when freshman Daniel Hamilton was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left in overtime and UConn down two.

Hamilton, a 56.3 percent free throw shooter, misfired on the first two. His intentional miss on the third shot failed to hit the rim, resulting in a violation.

Temple's Will Cummings converted two free throws to close out the game.

In the locker room, the Huskies consoled Hamilton, a freshman who had an uneven performance, finishing with 10 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, five assists and six turnovers.

"I know Daniel feels bad for doing that," Ollie said, "but there were other things in the game that caused us to lose."

Only two Huskies finished in double figures - sophomore Amida Brimah had a team-high 12 points - compared to five in the previous game against Central Connecticut State University on Sunday.

Purvis, who had seven points and one rebound, took his share of the blame.

"It was definitely a great effort, but games like that we can't let them slip between our fingers," Purvis said. "Coach played me like 38 minutes and I only had one rebound. That could have been a game-changer right there. … I missed two key free throws - that could have been another thing that changed the game."

UConn's dogged defense kept the Owls from building more than an eight-point edge.

In the frantic final 1:49 of regulation, UConn fought back from a 51-45 deficit. Sophomore Terrence Samuel's driving basket, Hamilton's two free throws and Purvis' breakaway dunk tied the score at 51.

Temple's Daniel Dingle drove the baseline but ran into traffic and misfired with a second left.

The Huskies continued to struggle offensively in overtime, managing only one field goal on Hamilton's short jumper. Purvis missed two free throws and the Huskies committed two turnovers and went 1-for-5 from the field.

"We needed someone to keep the game composed and control the game," Brimah said. "Ryan would have done that for us."

The Owls weren't much better, going 1-for-8, but hit all four free throws, including a pair by Quenton DeCosey that put them in front for good, 55-53, with 2:48 left. Jessie Morgan led the way with 17 points overall.

It was a killer defeat for the Huskies, who play four of their next five on the road starting with Saturday's showdown at Florida.

Boatright is expected to miss practice today and considered day-to-day. Omar Calhoun, who gave the Huskies a spark before leaving the game with just under five minutes left in regulation with a cut above his left eye, should be ready to go.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe