MEN'S TOP 25 BASKETBALL UConn avenges loss to Wildcats

The No. 3 ranked Huskies beat No. 2 Villanova 89-75.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STORRS, Conn. -- It wasn't Connecticut's stars who let the Huskies avenge the loss that knocked them from No. 1.
Denham Brown, Rashad Anderson, Hilton Armstrong and Jeff Adrien all came up big for No. 3 Connecticut on Sunday in an 89-75 victory over No. 2 Villanova.
Thirteen days earlier Villanova beat Connecticut 69-64, but the Huskies (25-2, 12-2 Big East) took control of this game with an 18-3 run after the Wildcats (22-3, 12-2) took their last lead of the game.
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 that ended an 11-game winning streak.
Alabama 82, No. 12 Florida 77
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Ronald Steele scored 19 points and Alabama was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 31 seconds to beat Florida.
The Crimson Tide (16-10, 9-5 Southeastern Conference) survived a late 3-point barrage by snaring three straight offensive rebounds and sealing the win at the line.
Alabama further boosted its NCAA tournament resume with its third straight win over a ranked team, including last weekend's home win over No. 10 Tennessee.
Taurean Green scored 20 points to lead Florida (22-6, 8-6).
No. 17 Washington 73,California 62
SEATTLE -- Brandon Roy scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Washington into a second place tie in the Pac-10.
Roy made 9-of-13 shots as Washington (22-5, 11-5) avenged a January loss to the Bears (17-8, 12-4) by breaking open a rugged game midway through the final period.
Cal's Leon Powe, who entered the weekend as one of only two players in Division I-A averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds, scored 14 points and had eight rebounds. He sat out the final 5:34 of the opening half with two fouls.
Richard Midgley led the Bears (17-8, 12-4) with 15 points.
Indiana 78,No. 18 Michigan State 71
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Robert Vaden scored 21 points and Errek Suhr stole the ball and hit two clinching free throws with a half-minute to go as the Hoosiers held off a second-half comeback in coach Mike Davis's final game at Assembly Hall.
Indiana (15-10, 7-7 Big Ten) will finish the regular season at Purdue and Michigan before the start of the conference tournament March 9 in Indianapolis. Michigan State (19-9, 7-7), which beat Indiana by 14 points in East Lansing last month, closes the regular season at home against Wisconsin and Illinois.
The Spartans, led by Maurice Ager's 30 points, rallied from 16 points down early in the second half and took their first lead on a 3-pointer by Ager with seven minutes to go. There were three ties after that before a basket and free throw by Marshall Strickland put Indiana ahead for good.
No. 19 UCLA 70, Oregon 53
LOS ANGELES -- Freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored 14 points and UCLA overcame a sluggish first half to beat Oregon in the 100th meeting between the schools.
UCLA (22-6, 12-4 Pac-10) took the court for their final home game of the season, knowing that a win would leave it with no worse than a tie for first place in the conference with California heading into Thursday's showdown with the Golden Bears at Berkeley.
The game was played in front of a crowd that included seven players from the Bruins' 1968 NCAA championship team, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lucius Allen, Lynn Shackelford and Hill Street Blues actor Michael Warren.
Aaron Brooks scored 19 points for Oregon (13-16, 7-10).
No. 21 North Carolina 81,Maryland 57
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Tyler Hansbrough scored 21 points to help North Carolina continue its climb in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tar Heels (19-6, 10-4 ACC) won easily to help solidify their hold on second place in the conference behind No. 1 Duke and clinch a first-round bye in the conference tournament. North Carolina has a half-game lead over N.C. State and is a game ahead of Boston College. The top four teams receive byes.
For the Terrapins (16-11, 6-8), chances of returning to the NCAA tournament after a one-year hiatus continue to wane. They were even worse from the field (27 percent), had 17 turnovers and lost for the seventh time in nine games.
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