Storrs - It was all there, the whole season in one night. Snippets of sensational, driblets of dreadful. And in the end, not good enough.

The UConn Huskies, who cut a swath through March a year ago, exited this one Wednesday night at Gampel Pavilion with a 68-61 loss to Arizona State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Connecticut ended the season at 20-15 and without heartbeat Ryan Boatright, who missed the game with lingering effects of the left shoulder injury he sustained in Sunday's American Athletic Conference championship game.

"I'm really proud of the guys," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "We could have put our heads down. We were down 16 (44-28) with 12 minutes to go. They fought hard. But it shows you our inconsistencies all year. We get down, we come back. We've got to do a better job as a coaching staff and as players to fix that next year. To be a good team, you can't have inconsistencies like we had this year."

Ollie said his team "didn't play a lick of defense" in the first half as the Sun Devils (18-15) used a late 9-0 run to take a 37-24 lead at the half. It swelled to 44-28 before the Huskies, as they did throughout the AAC Tournament last week, began the long, slow climb.

Finally, Omar Calhoun's 3-pointer with 2:38 left tied the game at 59. The 6,045 in attendance began rattling the walls of Gampel.

But then the inconsistencies of which Ollie spoke killed his team. And the season. Shaq McKissic (22 points) and Savon Goodman (14 points, nine rebounds) scored on drives to the basket - yawningly open drives, it turned out - eventually stretching ASU's lead to five with 46 seconds left.

The lane was missing one notable UConn Husky: Amida Brimah, who sat for the last 17 minutes. He was not injured.

"Phil (Nolan) was just playing well," Ollie said. "Amida's got to get better. Everyone on our team's got to get better."

Arizona State coach Herb Sendek: "When (Brimah's) in the game it's really hard to get something near the basket. He's incredible. … When you have a guy that protects the rim like that, he makes up for a multitude of his teammates' mistakes. … I think UConn has great length across their team. They don't have any boys out there. No guys who are slight. They have a group of men."

Rodney Purvis, who made five of his eight shots in the second half, led the Huskies with 19 points. Daniel Hamilton had 16 with seven rebounds and Terrence Samuel had 10 points and six assists. Brimah finished with zero points, zero rebounds and two blocks.

Ollie said the decision was made about Boatright in mid-afternoon Wednesday.

"I know there are going to be some great things for him in the future," Ollie said of Boatright. "He grew up as a man. As a basketball player, he has a lot of pride to get better. I know he wanted his team to go out on a better note. God is preparing him for something great. He has a bright future. If that's in the NBA or wherever he'll play. Boat wants it. He'll do whatever it takes to get it. I'm very proud to say I've been his coach for four years."

Ollie said he'll hold exit interviews with the players next week. They'll all hope for better next season.

"Fellas," he told reporters after the game. "We lost four games within 10 seconds (this season). It's not like we're in a damn pit. Ten seconds, if that's on the other end, we're in the NCAA tournament. I mean, there were a lot of games we lost at the end. I'm not crying over spilled milk. It is what it is. That's the fine line. Those are the inches you've got to fight for as a coaching staff and as players. It's a fine line being in the NCAA tournament and not. It's a great life lesson I can teach. You've got to value every game, every possession."

m.dimauro@theday.com

Twitter: @BCgenius