Hartford — Seconds after Sunday’s wild double overtime game ended in bitter disappointment, emotional senior Christian Vital pounded his hands on the XL Center court in frustration.

UConn coach Dan Hurley stood over Vital, trying to console him.

There was nothing that Hurley could say to ease the pain of an 89-86 defeat to No. 23 Wichita State before a rowdy season-high crowd of 13,281 fans.

Vital’s potential game-tying 3-pointer rimmed out with two seconds left.

“I thought it was going to drop,” Vital said. “I thought it did drop. Obviously, it didn’t. … It was just tough. We fought. We fought for that. Some moments didn’t go our way when we thought it was going to go or should have went our way. But it was just tough.

“... We just didn’t let them come in here and think they were going to bully us. We fought back. So it was tough to end that game not on the winning side of it.”

If UConn (10-6, 1-3) can continue to play with the same fierce competitive heart as it did on Sunday, it will eventually win these tight American Athletic Conference battles. The Huskies have dropped 26 of their last 30 games against ranked foes.

The Huskies trailed for nearly the entire game and overcame several deficits, including rallying from a nine-point hole in the final one minute, five seconds of regulation to force overtime on reserve Sid Wilson’s corner 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left. They also played without starter Tyler Polley, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice on Friday.

Eventually, costly turnovers and missed free throws prevented them from pulling out a marquee win. They went 29 for 42 from the foul line overall, going 4 for 9 in the two overtime sessions. They committed five of 19 turnovers after regulation.

Hurley loved his team’s energy, effort and toughness.

“This was the type of performance at least in terms of getting to our identity of toughness, defensive toughness, game toughness that you rebuild championship level programs with,” Hurley said. “When all the other stuff catches up, you find yourself back towards the top of the mountain.

“There’s no moral victories at UConn ever. But I was very proud of the guys and the way they just battled.”

Vital led the Huskies with 25 points while junior Josh Carlton contributed 13 points and a team-best 12 rebounds and Wilson finished with 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks before fouling out. Freshman James Bouknight chipped in 16 points in his first career start, filling in for Polley.

Credit the Shockers (15-1, 3-0) with securing a difficult road win. Two starters — Erik Stevenson (16 points) and Jaime Echenique (19 points, eight rebounds) fouled out.

“That was a hard-fought, gutsy performance by both teams,” Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. “No one deserved to lose that game. ...I really feel for coach Hurley and his group, especially what happened with Tyler Polley.”

Wichita State never trailed in the second overtime, seizing the lead for good on freshman Tyson Etienne’s foul-inducing basket. The Putnam Science Academy graduate made the free throw for an 80-77 edge.

The Huskies closed to within one three times. Vital buried a 3-pointer to narrow the gap to 87-86 with 33.6 seconds left. Down three, redshirt junior Alterique Gilbert was called for an offensive foul. But Wichita State’s Jamarius Burton missed two free throws with 11.3 seconds left, leaving UConn one more chance to tie.

Vital’s contested 3-pointer bounced out.

The fact the Huskies even forced overtime was a significant accomplishment. They fell behind by as many as 11 in the second half and faced a 69-60 deficit with 1:05 remaining.

UConn extended its pressure defense and forced three straight turnovers to spark a 9-0 spurt. The Huskies called timeout with 10.6 seconds on the clock.

Gilbert found Wilson wide open in the corner. Wilson, who has been buried on the bench in recent weeks, calmly drained the game-tying 3-pointer. He had missed all three 3-point attempts this season prior to Sunday.

“I had no time to think about it,” said Wilson, who also blocked Wichita State’s final attempt. “As soon as I caught it, I made sure I was behind the 3-point line and I shot it. It felt great, but I knew we only tied the game up. We didn’t win it, so I knew there was more work to do.”

The game had a little bit of everything, including some controversy near the end of the first overtime.

Vital appeared to save Bouknight’s wild pass from going out of bounds with UConn down by one. But the officials ruled that Vital stepped out. The replay seemed to contradict the call.

A livid Hurley stated his case. He carefully chose his words when asked about the play after the game.

“It was something that was not reviewable,” Hurley said. “It seemed like the Saints last year in the playoffs.”

The Huskies still forced a second overtime when Carlton converted one of two free throws with 32.3 seconds left and they survived two last second misses by the Shockers.

But they couldn’t avoid another painful loss. Their active defense forced 21 turnovers.

“We play at UConn, man,” VItal said. “No one is going to feel sorry for us. No one is going to feel sorry for me. … We’re going to keep waking up every day — God willing — and we’re just going to keep fighting.”

g.keefe@theday.com