STORRS, Conn. – UConn's Ryan Boatright saw the screen that left Texas forward Jonathan Holmes with an open 3-pointer to beat the Huskies on Sunday.
But Boatright rolled his ankle and went to the floor while trying to switch and contest the shot.
Holmes hit the jumper from the left baseline with 2 seconds left, giving the seventh-ranked Longhorns a 55-54 win over the 24th-ranked Huskies.
"Watching the ball go through the air, I didn't even feel my ankle, it was like numb," Boatright said. "As soon as I saw the ball go through the basket ... the pain just went crazy."
Boatright said he suffered a "normal" ankle sprain on the play, but isn't sure when he might be back on the floor.
The Huskies hope it is soon. He had 24 points and seven rebounds for UConn (3-2), which lost its second consecutive game.
Freshman Daniel Hamilton added 13 points and seven rebounds. The rest of the team had four baskets, and the Huskies shot 30.4 percent from the floor.
"I can't draw up anything, they're wide-open shots," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "Somebody is going to have to step up and make some shots here."
Holmes had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead the Longhorns (6-0). Demarcus Holland and Javan Felix each added 10 points.
The Huskies led by six points with just over 6 minutes left, but missed their final eight shots from the floor. The Longhorns chipped away and called a timeout with 4.4 seconds left to set up the final play after Boatright missed the back end of a 1-and-1 at the free-throw line.
That set up the final play.
"The first look was for Myles (Turner) slipping to the basket," Holmes said. "The second was for me getting screened into the corner, and that was about as open as you could hope for."
The Longhorns led most of the way before allowing an 11-1 second-half UConn run, sparked when Kendal Yancy was hit with a flagrant foul for throwing an elbow.
Boatright tied the game at 41 on a fast-break layup, which brought the sellout crowd into the game. He hit another layup to give the Huskies a 43-42 lead with 11 minutes left, their first since early in the first half.
Texas trailed by a point when Myles Turner blocked a Boatright layup with 56 seconds left. But backup point guard Felix, playing for an injured Isaiah Taylor, threw the ball away and was forced to foul Boatright on the inbounds pass.
The Huskies' senior leader hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to give UConn a 53-52 lead.
Felix then hit a layup on the other end to make it 53-52.
"We got it back at the end," Felix said.
Texas fell behind 4-0, but then reeled off 10 straight points, holding the Huskies without a basket for six minutes in the first half.
TIP-INS:
UConn: The Huskies lost for the first time in 45 consecutive nonconference games at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies, who play about half of their home games on campus and the other half in Hartford, last loss in Storrs to nonconference foe in 2001. That came against Detroit-Mercy in the NIT tournament. UConn has just five regular- season games left at Gampel Pavilion this season.
Texas: Had held its first five opponents to an average of 52 points a game, and has not given up more than 57 this season. The Longhorns' opponents had been shooting under 30 percent from the field. They held UConn to 30.4 percent.
UP NEXT:
Texas returns home to face Texas-Arlington on Tuesday, before heading back on the road to face No. 1 Kentucky on Friday.
UConn is at home again Friday against in-state rival Yale.
GUARDS: Boatright is the third UConn guard to go down with an injury. Omar Calhoun is still nursing a preseason knee injury and Rodney Purvis had his left ankle in a boot after spraining it last week in Puerto Rico.
SIBLINGS: Texas coach Rick Barnes is familiar with UConn freshman Daniel Hamilton. Hamilton's older brother, Jordan, played for Barnes and the Longhorns.
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