Hartford — Maybe UConn should have business cards printed up with the following:

American Athletic Conference tournament Final Four party crashers.

Once again, the Huskies advanced to the semifinals as an underdog. This time, it was at the expense of third-seeded Houston, which No. 6 UConn upset 74-65 on Friday night in the quarterfinals before a vocal crowd of 7,365 fans at the XL Center.

The way UConn (16-16) sees it, it deserves to still be alive in the postseason after everything it has been through.

"We deserve being here on the weekend," coach Kevin Ollie said. "We played hard. We played together and those guys are believing. So we're going to go out and go hunting."

The next target: second-seeded Cincinnati (28-4), which looked scary good in an 80-61 rout of No. 7 Tulsa Friday and also manhandled UConn in two regular season games. The Huskies have won all three previous meetings in the AAC tournament, including a marathon four-overtime quarterfinal victory in 2016.

The Huskies, who'll be playing their third game in three days, insist they're not tired yet. They'll be appearing in their fourth straight AAC semifinal, the second time as a six seed. They captured their only conference tournament championship last year as a five seed.

Game time Saturday is approximately 5:30 p.m.

"We're going to keep playing the way we've been playing," freshman Christian Vital said. "We're not going to look at anyone's jerseys. It's just another team. Obviously, give (Cincinnati) credit, they're a really good team, won really tough games and have beat us twice.

"But it's a new season. This new season, we're 2-0. ... We're going to keep playing with that swagger and take care of our home."

The Huskies are still alive because they played with intensity, poise and delivered countless big plays down the stretch. They also ran an efficient offense, shooting 54.5 percent – their best mark since early February. They converted six of seven free throws in the final one minute, 11 seconds, and went 18-for-22 from the line overall.

Sophomore Jalen Adams was a huge difference maker in the second half, scoring 18 of his game-high 23 points. Redshirt senior Rodney Purvis chipped in 18 points and a team-high six rebounds while freshmen Vance Jackson and Vital each added 12 points.

"We played really disciplined basketball down the stretch," Ollie said. "I was very proud of that. We out-rebounded them (34-28) and we played a great offensive game. We shared the basketball and got our shots."

Houston (21-10) swept the two regular season meetings, rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit to win 75-70 on Feb. 22.

Leading 35-26 at the break Friday, UConn refused to buckle, answering every charge.

When Houston cut the gap to four (59-55) on Rob Gray's 3-pointer, Adams responded with a 3-pointer. Adams was on his way to his best offensive game since spraining his ankle on Feb. 25 against SMU.

"I'm getting a lot more healthy game by game," Adams said.

Clinging to a 62-57 lead, Jackson coolly buried a shot-clock beating 3-pointer from the corner with 2:35 remaining. The Huskies built a 72-61 edge on Adams' two free throws and they were 48 seconds away from a trip to the semifinals.

That trip seemed far away when Houston roared out to a 20-9 lead. Gray, the AAC's leading scorer, already was heating up; he finished with 25 points.

Six and a half minutes into the game, Purvis went down hard after colliding with a Houston player while driving to the basket on a fast break. He was called for a charging foul. Team trainer James Doran eventually took Purvis to the locker room.

"I kind of just got the wind knocked out of me," said Purvis, who scored a career-high 30 points in the first round win over South Florida Thursday.

The Huskies certainly felt better when Purvis, UConn's Mr. March, returned about five game minutes after leaving the floor.

"My first thought was, oh my goodness, not today," Vital said of when Purvis left, "we're playing too hard. But then once I saw him get up I knew Purv was going to come back. It's his senior year and there's no way he was letting that little bump take him out for the rest of the game."

Early on, Vital and Jackson kept the Huskies afloat and helped spark a devastating 26-6 spurt to close the first half. Jackson finished off an aggressive drive to the basket with an emphatic dunk to jump-start his teammates.

The crowd started roaring on every defensive possession, sending a wave of energy through the Huskies. They rode that wave right to the finish.

It was UConn's first victory over a top three AAC team this season, losing the previous six encounters.

"It was a great game," Ollie said. "First of all, I just want to thank the crowd. They were awesome. I could feel the energy. I know our players fed off it."

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson called it one of the toughest crowds his team has played in front of all season.

UConn will need the crowd's help once again in today's semifinal game against Cincinnati, which pinned a humbling 67-47 loss on the Huskies in the regular season finale on Sunday in Storrs.

When asked what the Huskies have to do differently this time out to change the outcome, Purvis responded: "I just think we have to be tough. That's it."

Top-seeded SMU and No. 4 Central Florida will meet in the first semifinal at 3.

g.keefe@theday.com