Storrs - By now, Daniel Hamilton figures Amida Brimah owes him something for all his lob passes for baskets this season.

The combination has been nearly unstoppable.

UConn kept running the high percentage play late in a tight American Athletic Conference game on Sunday against Tulane.

And the Huskies kept scoring as Hamilton set up Brimah four times and Phil Nolan once for baskets in the final seven and a half minutes. They closed out a much-needed 67-60 victory at Gampel Pavilion.

The humble Hamilton was quick to give credit to Brimah, who finished with a game-high tying 19 points.

"(Amida) is always in the right place at the right time," Hamilton said. "It's not just me. Whenever I deliver it to him, he has to finish it. It's 50-50.

"But I think he does owe me some per diem for those lobs."

Of course, Hamilton was kidding.

The pair started working on that play during preseason. It usually starts with Hamilton beating his man off the dribble and entering the lane where he has two options: shoot or toss it up to Brimah, a 7-foot sophomore.

When Hamilton draws an interior defender, he feeds Brimah.

It worked to perfection on Sunday. Brimah scored eight points off lob passes in the last five minutes against Tulane (14-12, 5-9).

On the first combination, Brimah slipped behind the defense for a wide open dunk, giving the Huskies 53-50 lead with 4:58 left.

The next time down the court, Brimah caught the pass and then watched his layup attempt just barely crawl over the rim for a five-point lead.

Outside of fouling Brimah, there's little a defense can do to stop the play.

"Either you're going to help when D Ham comes into the lane, or you're going to leave me wide open…," said Brimah, who went 8-for-8 from the field. "It's hard to defend that."

Hamilton, a versatile freshman swingman, assisted on UConn's last six field goals. He had nine assists overall to go with seven points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

After Tulane cut the gap to three, Hamilton found senior Ryan Boatright, who had 16 points, in the corner for a 3-pointer that hit the front of the rim and bounced in.

Two more lob plays pushed the lead to 62-55 with 58 seconds left. The Huskies made five of six free throws in the last 44 seconds.

"It wasn't an easy win, but we'll take it…," coach Kevin Ollie said. "We just grinded it out, and they make you play that way. … It was a great test for us. I think we passed it."

UConn (15-11, 8-6) led for nearly the entire game, taking a 34-27 halftime lead. The Huskies only briefly fell behind, 48-45. Then Boatright hit a short jumper, Terrence Samuel buried two free throws and Hamilton set up Nolan for a dunk to hand them the lead for good, 51-48.

The Huskies made winning plays with the game on the line, something they've struggled to do this season. They increased their defensive intensity, limiting Tulane to just three field goals in the final nine minutes and 38 percent overall. They also executed on the offensive end, shooting over 50 percent (53.1) for only the sixth time this season.

Of course, it helps that the Huskies have the Hamilton-Brimah combination in their playbook. Few players in the conference are as versatile as Hamilton.

"He has feel and vision," Ollie said of the lob play. "Everybody can't make that pass. He has a really good knack, and Amida has a real good knack going up there and catching, eyeing the rim and finishing.

"And Phil got one today, so I was happy to see that."

News and notes

In the second half, Rodney Purvis went to the locker room to receive three stitches to close a cut on his lower lip. He eventually returned to the bench. … Nolan made his first start this season, as Ollie opted to go with a bigger lineup and also reward the junior for his strong play against Memphis Thursday. … Reserve Omar Calhoun also scored in double figures, chipping in 12. … UConn improved to 10-3 at home. … Up next: UConn visits East Carolina Wednesday.

g.keefe@theday.com Twitter: @GavinKeefe