STORRS, Conn. — After playing two intense games in as many weeks, Villanova and Connecticut know their next potential meeting could come with the stakes even higher.

"The only place down the road I want to see them is in Indianapolis at the Final Four," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "They come loaded and knock you down. That is a great team with heart."

The third-ranked Huskies came out on top this time with an 89-75 win Sunday, avenging a loss to the No. 2 Wildcats two weeks ago that knocked them from the top spot in AP Poll.

"I really don't want to see them again, but if we play them again it will be a big game," he said.

The hype surrounding Sunday's game was plenty big to begin with after the Wildcats beat UConn 64-69 in Philadelphia on Feb. 13. UConn students began camping outside Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday to score good seats.

But Sunday's games had more to do with toughness than revenge. UConn's win left everybody in the arena drained whether they played or watched. Coaches and players talked about the attitude and style that has become the trademark of the Big East.

"This was an advertisement for how hard the teams in this league play," Calhoun said. "Increasing our toughness was one thing I thought we had to do. We knew we could score, but we had to show we could come up with that kind of game like we had other times this season."

Denham Brown, Rashad Anderson, Hilton Armstrong and Jeff Adrien all came up big for Connecticut.

"This game was really a big game for us, a statement," Adrien said. "They got real happy after that first win and we had to shut their mouths. Today we had to go out there and show them we're not what they think we are. We are men out there."

The Huskies (25-2, 12-2) took control with an 18-3 run in the second half.

Brown, a senior swingman, had a career-high 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He had a total of 18 points in the Huskies' last three games, the first of which was the loss to Villanova (22-3, 12-2) that ended an 11-game winning streak.

The Wildcats came into this game with 11 straight wins.

"We're tougher than a lot of people give us credit for," Brown said. "This was a game we had a bull's eye on for the last two weeks."

Anderson, the leading non-starting scorer in the country at 13.5 points per game, had 17 points and was 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

Armstrong, the senior center who anchors the best shot-blocking team in the nation, had nine points and eight of the Huskies' 11 blocked shots.

Then there was Adrien, the freshman forward, who had eight points and nine rebounds and came up with several big plays in the game-breaking run.

"All of a sudden, the game changed when Jeff Adrien got in it," Calhoun said. "That was something for a freshman to express his emotion the way he did."

Allan Ray had 19 points for Villanova, but the senior guard left with just under 3 minutes to play with an injury to his left knee. He was taken to the locker room and came back with his knee wrapped in ice.

Ray, who said he slipped on a wet spot, said he would have an MRI on Monday. But he walked out of Gampel Pavilion with a wrap on his knee and without a limp.

"They were on the top of every aspect of their game," Wright said. "We will learn from this. You've got to beat the best team in their own house."

Randy Foye added 18 points for the Wildcats and Mike Nardi had 14. Will Sheridan, the star of Villanova's win over UConn with 13 points and 10 rebounds, had nine points and 11 rebounds. All but one of his rebounds was on the offensive end, where Villanova had 24 of its 38 rebounds.

"We pretty much expected it," Sheridan said of the physical game. "UConn comes out and plays hard every night. So do we. We knew it was going to be a battle. I felt it was like two of the top teams in the Big East going at it."

The Huskies shot 54.5 percent for the game (30-for-55), including 68.2 percent in the second half (15-for-22).

Ray made two free throws after he was fouled by Armstrong on a breakaway midway through the second half. The foul was called intentional and Ray scored on a drive on the ensuing possession for a 54-53 lead with 10:45 to go.

Ray picked up his fourth foul 25 seconds later and that's when the Huskies started their big run.

Anderson hit two 3s and Adrien had two baskets, the second on an offensive rebound, a big steal that led to the first of Anderson's 3s and a defensive rebound that he snatched away from three Villanova players on the Wildcats' third shot of a possession.

"That was some rebound," Calhoun said. "There wasn't anybody who was going to take that ball from him."

Brown's three-point play on a fast-break dunk capped the run and gave Connecticut a 71-57 lead with 5:15 to go.

"Plays like that have to be made by myself to get the team and the crowd going," Brown said.

Calhoun called it a statement play.

"Sometimes a dunk isn't always worth just two points," he said.

The win improved Connecticut to 9-1 this season against ranked teams, the lone loss to Villanova.