Philadelphia – UConn has just looked different – more determined, more confident and more lethal – in recent weeks.

No wonder the 14th-ranked Huskies closed the regular season with all the momentum of a boulder rolling down a steep hill.

They won for the eighth time in nine games, including fifth straight, beating Villanova, 71-59, at Wells Fargo Center. It was their first road win in the series since 2012.

“Last year we came in here and didn’t show up,” junior Andre Jackson said. “We weren’t getting stops. They were getting easy layups. .. Being able to get this one and show the character of this team, that meant a lot to me. It’s these times when everything is stacked against you it really matters. I was happy and proud of the guys that we all showed up.”

The Huskies never trailed after seizing command late in the first half and maintained a relatively comfortable edge until reaching the finish line.

At 24-7 overall, they’ve posted the most overall wins in coach Dan Hurley’s five seasons in Storrs and equaled the program’s highest total since the 2013-14 season. They finished 13-7 in the league.

“We were lacking a big time road win,” Hurley said. “This was a big time road win to win as comfortably as we did against a team that’s playing as good as anyone in the league. … We’re 24-7. Minus a couple weeks stretch, we’ve played great basketball the whole year.”

As the No. 4 seed, UConn will play No. 5 Providence at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square in New York.

“Our confidence level is really high going into the postseason,” sophomore Jordan Hawkins said. “We’re really confident with what we can do. We can make some noise.”

Hawkins led the way with 24 points, including 19 in the second half, while Alex Karaban chipped in 16 and Jackson added 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Huskies played winning basketball Saturday, hustling for loose balls, grabbing offensive rebounds to extend possessions and turned up the defensive pressure. Villanova (16-15, 10-10) shot just 36.4 percent from the field.

“Our defense was outstanding,” Hurley said. “We won one-on-one battles, and that’s hard to do versus those guys.”

They built a 32-24 halftime lead and extended it to 42-28 when Hawkins hit a 3-pointer, forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout with 16:41 remaining.

They remained in charge at 46-31.

Villanova tried to chip away at the deficit by doing what it does well – drawing fouls and getting to the foul line. The Wildcats are the nation’s top free throw shooting team.

A 14-point lead slipped to 52-43 with Cam Whitmore's basket with 7:35 left.

The Huskies pushed back and closed out their biggest road win, sinking 10 straight foul shots down the stretch.

They won the first meeting 74-66 on Dec. 28 in Hartford. But the Wildcats have since welcomed back veteran Justin Moore from injury, winning six of their last seven entering Saturday’s Big East battle.

Both teams engaged in a physical Big East tug-of-war at the start.

The Huskies pulled ahead early. Then the Wildcats pulled back.

Neither team could gain an edge for long.

UConn finally gained an advantage, going on a 10-1 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 27-20 lead.

Coming off a one for nine shooting effort in Wednesday’s win over DePaul, Hawkins struggled early, missing four of his first five shots – all from 3-point range.

When Hawkins returned to the court, he went inside, scoring off an offensive rebound to push the Huskies in front, 21-19.

Next, Adama Sanogo scored off an offensive rebound and got fouled. He made the free throw.

Nahiem Alleyne’s conventional 3-point play handed the Huskies a 27-20 edge with 4:15 left.

UConn’s defense did its part, limiting Villanova to just one field goal in the last 8:50. Karaban drilled a buzzer-beating jumper from the corner for an eight-point lead at the break.

“It was definitely a good little dagger,” said Karaban, who outscored his main competition for the Big East freshman of the year award in Cam Whitmore who had 14 points.

The Huskies have hit quite a few daggers during their winning streak.

Now they’re ready for tournament season.

“Any game that we win from here on out is going to be a hard game to win,” Hurley said.

g.keefe@theday.com

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

At Madison Square Garden, New York

First Round

Wednesday’s Games

Game 1: No. 8 St. John’s vs. No. 9 Butler, 3 p.m.

Game 2: No. 7 Seton Hall vs. No. 10 DePaul, 5:30 p.m.

Game 3: No. 6 Villanova vs. No. 11 Georgetown, 8 p.m.

Thursday’s Games

Quarterfinals

Game 4: No. 1 Marquette vs. Game 1 winner, noon

Game 5: No. 4 UConn vs. No. 5 Providence, 2:30 p.m.

Game 6: No. 2 Xavier vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m.

Game 7: No. 3 Creighton vs. Game 3 winner, 9:30 p.m.

Friday’s Games

Semifinals

Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m.

Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 9 p.m.

Saturday’s Game

Final

Game 10: Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m.