HARTFORD — Isaiah Whaley had a career-high scoring effort (again) and a double-double (again), adding to his incredible bounce-back from bench-warmer last season — even last month — to one of the most improved players in the nation.

James Bouknight continued his growing freshman legend, with more alley-oop dunks and 16 more points. Christian Vital ended his final game in the XL Center with 18 points and almost zero sentimentality afterwards.

“I was just thinking about it in the locker room, that was my last one,” the senior guard said. “It’s crazy, but that’s life, though. Life doesn’t wait for anybody.”

Whaley, Bouknight and Vital were the stars as UConn rolled to an 81-65 rout of UCF on Wednesday night. It was the Huskies’ first double-digit win in three weeks, and just their third game in the last 14 decided by more than seven points.

UConn (16-12, 7-8 AAC) also virtually assured itself of its first .500 or better record in four seasons, while also matching last year’s win total and surpassing its win total in league play.

“We’re actually playing meaningful games now,” said Whaley, “and it’s fun.”

While everyone in the building knew it was the final game in Hartford of Vital’s UConn career, it also could have been Alterique Gilbert’s final game at the XL Center. The fourth-year junior point guard will graduate this spring, and he could go play one more season somewhere else or go pro.

Or, Gilbert could return to UConn for one final season.

“That’s something either at the end of the season, or this week, we’ll deal with that,” said coach Dan Hurley. “He’ll either participate in Senior Day or he won’t. Al’s very important to me, very important to the program. Al’s been an incredible pleasure to coach to this point.”

UConn’s final home game of the season — Senior Day — will be on March 5 against Houston at Gampel Pavilion. Vital will definitely be feted. Will Gilbert?

“I have no idea, honestly,” he said. “Whatever the future holds, I’m just going with the flow. When that time comes and presents itself, I’ll make my decision.”

That time could come after the season. Even if he decides to take part in Senior Day ceremonies, he could still change his mind and return next season. That’s not unprecedented.

If Wednesday night was Gilbert’s final game at the XL Center as a Husky, however, he went out holding his head high. The numbers weren’t huge — six points, five assists, a steal, no turnovers in 26 minutes off the bench — but they were in keeping with the reduced role the one-time starter has accepted over the past month or so.

“It means a lot,” said Whaley, “to see a player like him, a really, really good player, to take a lesser role but still impact the game in a lot of ways. It really shows his character. We all look up to him. He’s been really good lately.”

Whaley was the beneficiary of a couple of Gilbert’s most impressive assists. He took an inbounds pass from Gilbert underneath UConn’s own basket and slamme it home early in the second half. On the Huskies’ next possession, Gilbert fired a beautiful dart from the wing to Whaley on the opposite low post block that Whaley jammed home.

“Zay’s playing really well right now,” Gilbert said of Whaley. “We’re really proud of him. His role’s become a lot bigger, and I’m happy for him, absolutely.”

Whaley, who had a career game six nights earlier with 18 points and 14 rebounds at Temple, d with 18 points and 11 boards on Wednesday.

“He doesn’t show up with a preconceived notion of how he wants the offensive game to go for him,” Hurley noted. “He just gets after it defensively, he’s as good a ball-screen defender as you’ll see, and he’s getting more comfortable on offense. The more minutes he’s gotten, it’s allowed him to settle in, not be as anxious or nervous.”

“He’s the greatest teammate in the world,” the coach added. “He’s a maximum effort guy — in the classroom, as a teammate, working on his game. Just a selfless guy you can win with.”

Vital has swallowed a bit of his impressive pride by playing more in the flow of the offense, not jacking up as many head-scratching 3-pointers and playing his usual hard-nosed, all-hustle defense. On Wednesday, he passed Donyell Marshall and Khalid El-Amin on UConn’s all-time scoring list and now sits 12th all-time with 1,654 points. Next up: Cliff Robinson, 1,664.

“I hear about it, I get told about it,” Vital confessed, “but I’d be doing myself and the team a disservice if I’m thinking about how many points I can score before I leave here. I’ve got a lot more important things on my mind.”

Added Hurley: “His legacy here is not just a guy who accumulated stats, but I think you’re gonna look two, three years down the line when we win a championship — he’s gonna have his fingerprints on it.”

Alterique Gilbert’s legacy won’t include him being on any of UConn’s all-time lists. But whenever he decides to move on — either after this season or next — his acceptance of a reduced role this season may be as impressive a legacy as any.

“He’s got to weigh some options at the end of the year, for himself,” said Hurley. “He’s been through a lot. But he’s such a selfless guy and a warrior, he’s not thinking about Senior Day, he’s not thinking about anything but how he can best help the team.”

RIM RATTLINGS

Walk-on Matt Garry was unavailable to play after injuring his left foot in practice on Tuesday. Garry, a Southington resident, had his foot in a walking boot.

Former UConn center Charles Okwandu, a member of the 2011 national championship team, was at the game.

david.borges@hearstmediact.com