|
|
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In a span of three days, Shabazz Napier and Connecticut knocked out both Philadelphia schools in the NCAA tournament. Now, the seventh-seeded Huskies are off to the East Regional semifinals in New York City to see how much more bracket busting they can do a year after being barred from the post-season because of academic sanctions. Second-seeded Villanova became the highest seed to fall so far after Napier scored 25 points in leading UConn to a 77-65 victory Saturday night. The win came on the heels of another upset in Buffalo, where Dayton, the 11th seed in the South, beat third-seeded Syracuse 55-53. "I guess it means something to you guys but at the end of the day, just because theyre No. 2 and were No. 7, they dont get extra points to start the game off," Napier said. "Everybodys the same." UConn was better thanks to Napier, who scored 24 points two days earlier in an 89-81 overtime win against Philadelphias other tournament entry, Saint Josephs. Napier had 21 points in the second half and helped put the game away by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to give the Huskies a 54-45 lead with 6:08 remaining. The star guard was limited to 8 minutes in the first half by foul trouble, and he avoided a major scare when he briefly left the game after hurting his right shin with 4:01 left. "The pain was excruciating. I couldnt put any pressure on it," Napier said. "Our trainer told me to mentally stay strong. ... He put that Bio-freeze on it, and I was ready to go." The freeze didnt cool him down once Napier returned after missing only about 40 seconds of action. Holding the ball atop the 3-point arc, he blew past a defender while driving into the paint and flipped in an underhanded reverse high off the backboard to put UConn ahead 60-51 with 2:19 remaining. Lasan Kromah scored 12 points for the Huskies, while DeAndre Daniels, Ryan Boatright and Terrence Samuel each had 11. Connecticut (28-8) advanced to face the winner of Sundays game between third-seeded Iowa State and No. 6 seed North Carolina. "Its unbelievable," UConn athletic director Warde Manuel said. "Its extra special, given what this team went through last year. Extra special." Manuel was referring to the academic sanctions that essentially rendered the Huskies 20-10 finish meaningless last year in Kevin Ollies first season as coach. Ollie has improved to 2-0 in his tournament debut, two years since taking over after Jim Calhoun stepped down because of health issues. Ryan Arcidiacono scored 18 points for Villanova (29-5) in a matchup of former Big East rivals. James Bell had 14 and Darrun Hilliard added 13. "Certainly a tough way to end the season," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said. "I didnt want to let this put a damper on what this group has done all year." Villanova fell one win short of matching the school record set in 2009, when the Wildcats lost to North Carolina in the national semifinals. Napiers performance played a significant role. "He was just awesome," Wright said. "There was a period where he hit three 3s, and it just created a separation." Wright was referring to a surge during which UConn took control in a span of 1:32 as Napier made three consecutive 3-pointers to build a 51-40 advantage. Kromah started it and Napier struck a pose for the cameras after hitting the second 3 with 8:59 left. "He led us to victory," Ollie said. "He was just unbelievable in that second half: 21 points, crucial 3s, dagger 3s. He was 30 feet out and he was making them." The Huskies are marching on to Madison Square Garden in their first season as members of the American Athletic Conference after the Big East was realigned following a series of defections. Villanova remained a Big East holdover, but wound up being bounced by a familiar foe. The teams traded leads four times in the opening 5:25 of the second half, with Daniels putting UConn ahead for good, 37-36, with a layup. Poor shooting continued to haunt the Wildcats, who were coming off a 75-53 win over Milwaukee on Thursday. After hitting five of their first eight attempts through the first 6:11, the Wildcats closed the half going 2 of 15. Their offence went stone cold after Hilliard hit a 3 to put them up 19-9 with 11:30 left. Villanova went 11:24 without a field goal, missing 10 straight shots before Arcidiacono hit a 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds left in the first half that cut the Huskies lead to 25-24. Villanova was down 42-36 with 11:48 left when Hilliard drove into an opening on the right wing and, as he went up to shoot, the ball slipped out of his hands and bounced out of bounds. Air Jordan Outlet . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". Clearance Air Jordan Store . 1. Lions WR Calvin Johnson (6 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD, 10 targets) leads receivers with 1,299 yards and 12 touchdowns, though his 118.1 receiving yards per game ranks second behind Clevelands Josh Gordon. Gordon (10 REC, 261 YDS, 2 TD, 15 targets) is emerging as a superstar, putting up huge numbers even with Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden at quarterback. https://www.jordanchina.us/. The Raptors two leading scorers were never able to co-exist the way they hoped or the team had envisioned, but individually DeRozan was thriving, in the midst of a career season. Cheap Jordan From China .Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. Air Jordan China .com) - Jahlil Okafor had 21 points, Tyus Jones scored 16 with 10 assists and No.(SportsNetwork.com) - The first-place New York Islanders will shoot for wins on consecutive nights when they continue a lengthy road trip with Saturdays game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Islanders picked up a dramatic overtime victory Friday night in New Jersey and the two points earned allowed New York to leap over idle Pittsburgh for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins, who play tonight in Montreal, are one point behind the Isles. John Tavares was the hero for the Islanders in Fridays 3-2 win over the Devils. The captain tied the game late in the third period and won it in overtime with an impressive sequence. Tavares lifted the stick of Devils defenseman Adam Larsson below the goal line to acquire the puck, moved in on net and finished the play with a wrister past the blocker of Keith Kinkaid for the win. We just kept shooting pucks and it finally paid off, Tavares said. I just took it to the net. The goalie committed to me and I hit the far side. Tavares also assisted on a goal by Josh Bailey and Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves in his sixth straight start for the Islanders, who ended a two-game skid and improved to 3-2-0 on a seven-game road trip that ends Tuesday against the rival New York Rangers. Backup Chad Johnson could give Halak a breather tonight. Johnson is 2-0 with a 1.45 goals against average in his career against Columbus, while Halak is 8-4-1 with a 2.65 GAA in this matchup. Tonights clash marks the first of four scheduled meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division foes. Columbus has beaten up on the Isles in recent years, winning five of the last six games and scoring four or more goals four times during that span. The Islanders, who are 13-9-1 on the road this season, only have managed one win in their 10 all-time trips to Nationwide Arena.dddddddddddd The Blue Jackets own an 8-0-1 record with a tie when facing New York at home. Columbus, however, is coming off a loss on Friday, as it capped a four-game road trip with a 5-2 setback in Toronto. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak and gave the Blue Jackets a 2-2-0 record on the swing. It also dropped the Jackets record since the start of December to 12-3-1. Toronto scored four times in the first period en route to the win and outshot the Blue Jackets by a 32-20 margin. The Leafs also converted 2-of-4 power-play opportunities. Too many unforced errors, too many penalties. There were some plays we had to execute and we didnt do it. They got a good team with some high-end skill and they made us pay, said Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four goals on 31 shots hours after signing a four- year contract extension with the Blue Jackets. The 2012-13 Vezina Trophy winner inked a deal worth a reported $29.7 million. Ryan Johansen extended his goal streak to a career-high five games, supplying both tallies in only Columbus fourth loss of the past 16 games. The Blue Jackets hope to return to the win column tonight when they open a three-game homestand. Columbus is 9-9-2 as the host and also will welcome Montreal and the Rangers during this stay at Nationwide Arena. Its uncertain if Bobrovsky will get the start on consecutive nights, but he does boast a stellar 10-2-0 record and 1.83 GAA over 13 career appearances against the Isles. Backup Curtis McElhinney is 2-1-0 with a 2.11 GAA in three lifetime games versus New York. ' ' '
|
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 2899
Themen
und
2901
Beiträge.
|
Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen |