Orlando, Fla. — Watching UConn this season resembled checking out a bad movie.

You kept waiting for it to become entertaining.

But it never did.

Sure, the Huskies showed flashes of potential, but never consistently rose above mediocrity while stumbling to a 14-18 overall record and their worst finish — eighth place at 7-11 — in the five-year history of the American Athletic Conference.

Right down to the final scene in an AAC tournament loss to SMU on Thursday, UConn's performance fell short of expectations.

One word was repeated a few times during Thursday's post-game interviews.

Unacceptable.

Unacceptable that their effort and energy showed up too late throughout the season, including Thursday.

Unacceptable that they repeated the same mistakes.

Unacceptable that a tradition-rich program that won a national championship just four years ago has now endured consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1985-86 and 1986-87.

"It's been a tough two years," sophomore Christian Vital said.

It sets up a crucial off-season for the Huskies and coach Kevin Ollie, whose job is in jeopardy. There will be a lengthy and thorough evaluation and self-examination period.

"How can I get these guys to play better and play together?" Ollie said. "How can I get my coaching staff to execute better? We're all in this together.

"So it's going to be a long evaluation for myself, my coaching staff, my team. We've got to get players, and we've got to find out who's staying. We've got our seniors that have got to get replaced. Those are the meetings that we're going to have over the next two weeks. And we want to make sure our guys finish strong in their academics, too. So we can't drop the ball on that."

Transfers have become a spring ritual in college basketball, so expect the Huskies to lose at least one player. Veterans like junior Jalen Adams, the team's best player, said twice in the last few weeks that he plans to return, but it's possible that he could test the NBA draft waters.

Ollie went through a similar process last off-season.

Three players, including potential starters Vance Jackson and Steven Enoch, decided to transfer. Associate head coach Glen Miller was fired and replaced by Raphael Chillious. A new wave of promising recruits came into the program.

The Huskies entered the 2017-18 season with eight newcomers and only two players — Adams and Vital — with more than four games worth of experience at UConn. Key contributors Terry Larrier and Alterique Gilbert were healthy again after missing almost all of the previous season.

Preseason projections pointed to the Huskies returning to the NCAA tournament and challenging for the AAC title. It never happened due to a variety of circumstances and issues.

The injury bug bit again.

Gilbert, a starting point guard, suffered another season-ending shoulder injury and played only the first six games. Larrier fractured his sinus wall, forcing him to sit out three games. He wasn't the same player when he returned.

Eric Cobb, a junior college transfer expected to be a part of the regular rotation, was suspended for 10 games for his verbal outburst to Ollie during the East Carolina game on Jan. 6.

UConn received inconsistent contributions from its two graduate transfers. Forward David Onuorah finished with more fouls (65) than points (30) and rebounds (62). Guard Antwoine Anderson was counted on more than anticipated because of Gilbert's injury. He contributed 7.3 points per game and served as a veteran presence but suffered through a prolonged slump. He was only one of two players (Adams was the other) to finish with more assists than turnovers.

Still, the Huskies should have been better and more competitive. They lost a program-record eight games by at least 20 points and never came close to beating any of their seven ranked foes. Sluggish starts put them in early holes and they rallied from a halftime deficit to win just five times.

The mistake-prone Huskies sprang leaks everywhere.

They were a poor offensive team most of the season before finally showing improvement the last few weeks, shooting over 46 percent in six of the last nine games. They still ended up last in the conference in field goal percentage (41.7 percent) and last in assists per game (10.4) as well as shooting an icy 32.6 percent from 3-point range.

Rebounding and defense — two staples of any successful UConn program — were season-long issues. The Huskies ranked 10th in the league in both rebounding margin and scoring defense.

Opponents looked comfortable playing against the Huskies, who showed little resistance for alarmingly long stretches in games.

Critics pointed to Ollie as the root of UConn's struggles. Vital believes the players are to blame.

"I'll keep saying, it's really on the players, because we're the ones on the court," Vital said. "(Coach Ollie) can't score for us. He can't defend for us. It's up to us to score the ball, defend and rebound. Everyone can put the blame on him, but I'd say it's on the players."

So what's missing?

Adams gave an interesting answer to that question after the season-ending loss.

"I just say the mentality," Adams said. "From the walk-ons to the starters, everybody just has to have that killer mentality. I think if we all have that, it will just carry over to more wins."

That certainly would be a start.

The Huskies regularly came up short in the mental and physical toughness department, partly due to relying on inexperienced players, especially in the frontcourt where they were often overmatched.

Freshmen Josh Carlton, Tyler Polley, Isaiah Whaley, redshirt freshman Mamadou Diarra and sophomore Kwintin Williams, a junior college transfer, all showed potential in brief periods. But none averaged more Carlton's 4.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Foul trouble and Ollie's sometimes head-scratching substitution patterns limited their playing time.

Their development in the offseason will be a key to the team's future success.

Some quality help appears to be on the way.

Athletic swingman Sidney Wilson, who sat out this season after transferring from St. John's, will be a nice addition. Incoming point guard James Akinjo, 6-7 forward Emmitt Matthews, Jr., and rugged 6-10, 250-pound center Lukas Kisunas should immediately contend for playing time.

The versatile Matthews broke his wrist in mid-February but returned to compete in the state tournament for Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Wash. He was named Washington's 3A senior player of the year, finishing his career with 1,614 points and 744 rebounds. Akinjo has led Salesian College Preparatory in Richmond, Calif., to a 30-1 record and his team remains alive in the playoffs. Kisunas, a physical interior presence, played for prep school power Brewster Academy.

With so many questions that need to be answered, it's too early to tell what next year's UConn team will look like. Vital remains optimistic that the Huskies will become an elite program again.

"I still take pride in my jersey, take pride in this program and playing for this program," Vital said. "I just appreciate this opportunity to play for a program like this and I won't take it for granted. ... It's been tough. At the end of the day, it is what it is. Can only learn from it. Can't sulk in the moment. Got to grow up."

g.keefe@theday.com