UConn opens March by beating No. 21 SMU

Hartford - Something about March brings out the beast in UConn.

The Huskies kicked into championship mode, delivering a statement-making performance Sunday before a nationally-televised audience and raucous full house at the XL Center.

They shook off an inconsistent streak that's haunted them all season, knocking No. 21 Southern Methodist University out of first place in the American Athletic Conference with an 81-73 victory.

It is UConn's first win over a top 25 team this season.

"Anybody is beatable," senior Ryan Boatright said. "A lot of those games we cracked and we beat ourselves a lot of time. We played a tremendous game today. We played with a lot of poise and we grinded the game out. We played our type of basketball.

… That was our first signature win, period. We needed that to go on our resume and just to keep the games rolling and finish the season strong and go into the conference tournament with a lot of confidence."

The Huskies (17-11, 10-6), who won their season-high tying third straight, will host the conference tournament next week. They finish the regular season by hosting Memphis Thursday and visiting Temple on Saturday.

There's no understating the value of Sunday's upset.

They have struggled against quality teams this season. The confidence-building performance strengthened their grip on fifth place. The top five will secure first round byes in the conference tournament.

From the start Sunday, UConn possessed a tenacity, attitude and determination missing at times this season. They made winning plays.

"We played with a chip on our shoulder," freshman Daniel Hamilton said. "We know the season is on the line and we know we can't mess around anymore. We went out there and didn't take that chance for granted. We just got after it."

The terrific trio of Boatright (23 points), Rodney Purvis (a career-high 28 points) and Hamilton (16 points, including 14 in the second half) controlled the game on the perimeter. SMU (23-6, 14-3) had no answer for them.

"We had a hard time guarding them," SMU coach Larry Brown said.

In the game's highlight reel play, Purvis exploded down the lane, rose up and dunked over 6-foot-11 Yanick Moreira in the early stages of the second half.

"Pat (Lenehan) always teases me, 'Can you still dunk? I don't think you can dunk anymore,' " Purvis said, referring to his teammate. "I was just trying to be aggressive and I was able to make a good play."

The Huskies led 32-26 at halftime before the Mustangs surged in front for the first time, 53-51, on Markus Kennedy's short jumper with 8:10 remaining.

They responded like defending national champions, going on a 17-4 run. Hamilton heated up, burying a 3-pointer to push UConn in front for good. He scored 12 points during the decisive spurt and Purvis added five.

"What we wrote on the board is having spirit, playing with heart and then executing," coach Kevin Ollie said. "I think they followed that game plan pretty much to a T, especially when they made their run. I really thought our guys responded with courage."

The Huskies sealed the verdict by going 10 for 10 from the foul line in the last 1:15. It was their first win ever over SMU.

They did so many things well overall, shooting 53.2 percent against a team that leads the AAC in field goal percentage defense at a stingy 37.9 percent. They hit the 80-point mark for the first time since Dec. 28 against Central Connecticut State University. They also limited SMU to just four fast break points after giving up 15 in a 73-55 loss in the first meeting on Feb. 14 in Dallas.

They also made some big defensive stops while Boatright held AAC player of the year candidate Nic Moore to just nine points on 3-for-13 shooting.

"I don't know how many teams would have beaten them tonight, to be honest," Brown said. "I'm not making an excuse for my team. I just thought Kevin had them prepared. … The better team won. I didn't think we matched their energy."

The Huskies close the regular season by hosting Memphis Thursday and visiting Temple Saturday.

"The confidence is there," Boatright said. "The (swagger) is there that we can beat any team in the country. We're not going to lay down for anybody. We're going to fight until the end."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe