Hartford — All season long, UConn came up fatally short in every heart-attack special.

Not this time.

Senior Ryan Boatright delivered the game-winning jolt, burying a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds remaining in Friday’s American Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal, setting off a wild celebration in the raucous XL Center.

Boatright took the inbounds pass and calmly dribbled up court before rising over a Cincinnati defender on the wing. It was fitting a 3-pointer won the game because the sixth-seeded Huskies relied almost exclusively on the long range shot in the second half.

With a dramatic 57-54 victory, UConn advanced to today’s semifinals against No. 2 Tulsa (22-9) at approximately 5 p.m. The teams split during the regular season, each winning on their home court.

Until Friday, the Huskies were 1-6 in games decided by less than five points.

“It was just a gutty win,” coach Kevin Ollie said. “We just took the game at the end.”

The Huskies (19-13) also kept alive their quest to win four games in four days and capture the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Unable to get inside on a tough match-up zone, they lived from the 3-point line, tying their season-best for the second straight game by sinking 11 on a season-high 30 attempts. Boatright scored a game-high 18 points and made 4 of 12 from beyond the arc while sophomore Rodney Purvis had 17 points.

But the Huskies had to endure a frantic final minute during which they lost a five-point lead (54-49) with 36.6 seconds left.

During a timeout to set up the last play, Boatright was eager to take charge.

“I told myself that I’m not going out like that,” Boatright said. “I’m going to take this last shot and I’m going to make it.’ I gave him one good cross-over to give myself a good look and knocked it down.”

Boatright atoned for missing the front-end of a one-and-one free throw with 25 seconds left. Then third-seeded Cincinnati tied the game on Shaq Thomas’ put-back with 13.4 seconds remaining.

Ollie turned to his senior guard to rescue the Huskies. Boatright misfired on a game-winning attempt just last week in a damaging home loss to Memphis.

“I wanted to put the ball in his hands because he’s a senior,” Ollie said. “He came through for us. I’m very proud of him, and I’m very proud of my team. We hung in there and we live to play on Saturday, and that’s what UConn basketball is all about.”

The game pitted UConn’s perimeter game vs. Cincinnati’s inside muscle. Neither team led by more than six points in the high intensity tussle.

With every possession precious in the second half, the Huskies fired 3-pointers on 12 straight possessions, sinking seven. Freshman Daniel Hamilton hit a big one, banking in a long distance shot as the shot clock expired to give the Huskies a 48-45 with three minutes left.

“We hit timely shots,” Ollie said. “In the second half, we really started understanding our open spots in the match-up zone.”

The Bearcats (22-10) dominated inside, scoring 32 points in the paint, including 19 second chance points.

Foul trouble mounted in the frontcourt for the Huskies.

Center Amida Brimah went to the bench after picking up his third foul about five minutes into the second half. The Huskies are a different team without their 7-foot rim protector.

The Bearcats smartly attacked inside.

The Huskies, on the other hand, went the perimeter route to remain in the game.

Purvis buried UConn’s fifth straight 3-pointer for a 42-39 lead with 9:10 left. But Nolan went to the bench with four fouls, leaving little-used freshman Rakim Lubin as the only big man.

Cincinnati knew just what to do – go inside again. Freshman Gary Clark converted to tie it up at 42 with 8:20 remaining.

The Huskies eventually had to cool off from distance, right?

They did until Boatright put the finishing touches on a big win. For the second straight year, UConn beat Cincinnati in the semifinals.

The two teams put on a bad shooting clinic in the first half. UConn went just 8-for-27 from the field and Cincinnati 9-for-26.

The Huskies trailed 22-21, which was a bad sign considering they were 6-11 when down at the break this season.

You could see why the Bearcats are ranked sixth in the country in scoring defense at 55.2 points per game. They extended their match-up zone to frustrate UConn.

Nothing came easy.

The Huskies bogged down, passed up open shots and settled for too many tough ones late in the shot clock.

A technical foul on Cincinnati’s Octavius Ellis for trash talking gave UConn a brief spark. Boatright hit the two free throws and then buried a 3-pointer to tie the game at 12-all.

Neither team could break loose, with the game’s biggest lead just six.

The Huskies survived despite converting just 38.2 percent from the field. They did a great job taking care of the basket, committing a season-low three turnovers.

Of course, it helped to have a rowdy crowd of 9,514 screaming their support until the end.

“It was crazy,” Purvis said. “I wanted to jump in the crowd with them. It was exciting out there, but that’s what you come to UConn for. We’re fortunate to have the tournament here.”

Tulsa advanced by beating Houston, 59-51. Top-seeded SMU faces No. 4 Temple in today’s other semifinal, starting at 3 p.m.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe