Video: UConn Men’s Magical Ride Ends With Loss To SMU

The UConn men’s basketball team came into the 2015 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament with an unenviable task.

Win four games and garner the automatic bid from the conference. Lose at any point and they’d have a date in the NIT most likely.

All the UConn Huskies did is win the first three games but in the fourth game, they just didn’t have enough left in the tank as the SMU Mustangs won the championship game with a 62-54 win at the XL Center.

UConn finishes the season at 20-14 and will most likely host a game in the first round of the NIT. SMU moves to 27-9 and was given the 6th seed in the South region.

Rodney Purvis stepped up big time for the Huskies with 29 to lead them. Daniel Hamilton added eight points and 10 rebounds while Ryan Boatright had seven points. Amida Brimah had seven blocked shots on the afternoon.

Markus Kennedy led a balanced SMU attack with 15 points. Nic Moore and Yanick Moreira both had 11 points while Ben Moore had 10. Sterling Brown led the Mustangs with 12 rebounds.

UConn Huskies vs SMU Mustangs 2015 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship box score

Here are SMU’s postgame quotes.

Here are UConn’s postgame quotes.

Here are the postgame notes from The American.

Here is a photo gallery.