While the giddy feeling from Tuesday's marquee win may be still lingering among the UConn fan base, the players quickly shifted their focus to their next task.

Veteran guard R.J.Cole reminded everyone there's still plenty at stake after beating No. 8 Villanova.

"The season didn't stop," Cole said. "We have three games left. We have to continue to try to win out and put ourselves in a great position going into the Big East tournament and see what we can do out there."

No. 21 UConn (20-7, 11-5) can improve its position in the Big East standings as well as its seeding in the upcoming conference tournament. Heading into Saturday night's college basketball action, the Huskies were tied for third place with Creighton.

The Huskies are all but guaranteed to earn an NCAA tournament bid for the second straight year but it's always a good idea to better your resume before Selection Sunday.

Up next is Sunday's potentially dangerous nationally-televised game against Georgetown (noon, Ch. 3) at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

The Huskies go from playing a perennial Big East power in Villanova to a last-place team without a win in league play. The Hoyas (6-21, 0-16) are in a freefall, losing a program-record 17 straight, and haven't won in over two months.

In the first meeting on Jan. 25 in Storrs, UConn rolled to a 96-73 victory. The Huskies never trailed and rode a balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures.

With all that said, it would be a mistake to look past Georgetown to Wednesday's important road game at Creighton.

Here's one reason why: After posting a 7-9 league record last season, Georgetown pulled off a stunning run in the Big East tournament, beating Villanova, Seton Hall and Creighton the way to winning the championship and earning automatic NCAA bid.

The Big East is far too unpredictable to expect to win any game.

UConn is rounding into top form, however, showing some positive signs in recent weeks.

The Huskies have elevated their play, capturing four straight.

After struggling to close out games earlier in the season, they executed and played with poise under pressure in recent tight late-game situations. They rallied from a four-point deficit in the final 26 seconds to beat Villanova. They've won three of their last four games by single digits.

"I just think that goes with our growth throughout the season," Cole said. "We've had growing pains. We've had a couple hiccups at the end of the games. It just shows our maturity and how well everyone is growing up on this team from the freshmen all the way to the seniors. We want this more than anything. We're just going to continue to keep grinding it out."

Strong February finishes have been a trademark of Hurley's teams at UConn. In each of the last two seasons, the Huskies ended the regular season winning six of their last seven.

They're close to duplicating that success this season.

A win Sunday would make it six of the last seven for UConn. It would also give the Huskies their most victories in conference play since going 12-6 in the American Athletic Conference during the 2013-14 national championship season.

"We've put ourselves in a position to play big-time games here at the end of the Big East Conference season and we have a ton that we're playing for," coach Dan Hurley said recently. "We have to play to our identity, which is defending at a high level, rebounding at a high level and keep attacking the rim and playing inside out offensively."

g.keefe@theday.com

No. 21 UCONN at GEORGETOWN

Location: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.

Tip: Noon (Ch. 3)

Records: UConn 20-7, 11-5; Georgetown 6-21, 0-16

Last game: UConn beat Villanova, 71-69, Tuesday; Georgetown lost to DePaul, 68-65, Thursday

Probable starters: UConn, 6-1 grad. guard R.J. Cole (16 pts, 4.3 assists), 6-6 so. Andre Jackson 6.7 pts, 7.3 rebs), 6-6 sr. guard Tyrese Martin (13.4 pts, 7.1 rebs), 6-9 grad forward Isaiah Whaley (7.7 pts, 4.8 rebs, 2.2 blks), 6-9 so. forward Adama Sanogo (15.3 pts, 8.5 rebs, 2 blks)

Georgetown, 6-5 grad guard Donald Carey (14 pts, 4.6 rebs), 6-5 fr. guard Aminu Mohammed (14 pts, 8.1 rebs), 6-0 so. guard Dante Harris (11.6 pts, 3.9 rebs), 6-6 so. forward Collin Holloway (8.4 pts, 2.8 rebs), 7-0 jr. center Malcolm Wilson (2.7 pts. 2.9 rebs)

Noteworthy: First of two straight road games. ... Huskies looking to extend winning streak to a season-high tying five games. ... Series: UConn trails, 36-33, winning four of the last five including 96-73 on Jan. 25 in Storrs. Huskies scored a season-high in a Big East game and dominated the boards (40-28). Sanogo led five players in double figures with 19. ... Mohammed, the Big East preseason freshman of the year, is the top freshman rebounder in the Big East, averaging 8.1 per game. ... Top reserve: 6-7 grad forward Kaiden Rice (11.5 pts, 2.6 rebs). ... Hoyas last in the Big East in scoring defense, FG percentage defense, 3-pt FG percentage defense and FG percentage. ... Hot: Huskies shooting 46.4 percent from the field in the last three games. Cold: Martin is 5 for his last 19 from the field, failing to score in double figures in consecutive games for only the second time this season. ... UConn is 16th in the NCAA NET rankings. ... Reserve Tyler Polley averaged 12.5 points in the last two games, sinking 6 of 9 from 3-pt land. ... Huskies 4-4 on the road, Hoyas 6-10 at home. ... Up next: UConn visits Creighton on Wednesday.

— Gavin Keefe