placed backup linebacker Josh McNary on the commissio

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. Ultra Boost Australia . Fognini won 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 after Argentinas Carlos Berlocq had beaten Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 on the outdoor clay surface. Doubles are set for Saturday with reverse singles on Sunday to decide which team reaches the quarterfinals. Adidas NMD R1 Australia . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/superstar-shoes-australia/gold.html . 1 Pete Sampras. Speaking ahead of an exhibition match against Andre Agassi in London on March 3, Sampras said on a conference call Wednesday that he is impressed by Federers longevity. Adidas Superstar Black Australia . Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders earned a 2-1 win over Ottawa Wednesday, leaving the Senators five points out of a playoff spot with just five games to play and four teams ahead of them. NMD Clearance Sale .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - No doubt about it.Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are the dominant coach-quarterback pair in the NFL. And they left no question that they deserve the sixth Super Bowl appearance of their brilliant careers.Brady threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns, Belichick got his league-high 21st post-season win and the New England Patriots routed the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC championship game Sunday night.Weve had a lot of good teams in the past, Brady said. This one is going to have to win a very important game to kind of leave our legacy.Its the most important one. The Patriots (14-4) will face defending champion Seattle (14-4) on Feb. 1 in Glendale, Arizona, as they seek their first Super Bowl win in 10 years after winning three in four. The Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers 28-22 in overtime in the NFC title game Sunday.LeGarrette Blount ran for 148 yards and three touchdowns for New England in the second-most lopsided win in an AFC title game.You look around and people are posing with the trophy, everybodys smiling, Patriots linebacker Donta Hightower said in the locker room. Everybodys smiling. Even coach Belichick is smiling.Andrew Lucks expression was much different after his worst game since he was chosen with the top pick in the 2012 draft. He completed 12 of 33 passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He is 0-4 against the Patriots with every loss by at least 21 points.Its hard to find much good right now, fresh off this game, Luck said. We had our sights set higher.The Patriots lost AFC title games the past two seasons after losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl after the 2011 season.Its so much work just to get there and losing the last time we were there hurt, New England safety Devin McCourty said. Weve got to play a great team. They wouldnt be there if they werent and to go back two years in a row is tough, and they did it.The Patriots have a pretty impressive history, too.Brady surpassed John Elway for most Super Bowl appearances for a quarterback and tied defensive lineman Mike Lodish for most by any player. Belichick tied Don Shula for most Super Bowls for a coach and broke a tie with Tom Landry with his 21st post-season win. And New England tied Dallas and Pittsburgh for most appearances in the big game with eight.I know weve had some ups and downs this year, Brady said of a team that split its first four games, but right now were up, baby, and were going to try to stay up for one more game.Some things to take from the Patriots blowout win:UP HIS HOODIE SLEEVE: One game after receiver Julian Edelman threw a touchdown paass to beat Baltimore, the Patriots pulled out another trick play.ddddddddddddWith a third-and-1 on the Colts 16 early in the third quarter, offensive tackle Nate Solder reported as an eligible receiver and caught a touchdown pass from Brady to give New England a 24-7 lead.It was amazing to be a part of a game like that and have a cool play like that, Solder said. The stars were aligned.Belichick repeatedly caught the Ravens off guard last week when they used skill players as ineligible receivers. Against Indianapolis, the crowd cheered every time the referee announced an eligible or ineligible receiver.Brady noted that Solder played tight end his first year in college at Colorado.So I dont know, he said, maybe we have more tricks up our sleeve.COACHING TREE: The Super Bowl will feature the two most recent Patriots coaches.Belichick has had great success in New England, winning six AFC titles and three Super Bowls. But Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was a flop in Foxborough, coaching the team for three seasons and winning fewer games in each one than the year before.Carroll then went to Southern Cal, winning two national championships and finishing in the top 5 of The Associated Press poll seven times in nine years before returning to the NFL with the Seahawks.NO EXCUSES: Luck wouldnt blame the rainy weather and Colts coach Chuck Pagano wouldnt blame distractions for the loss.I dont think it had a negative effect on anything, Luck said about his dome-team struggling in the rain.The Colts placed backup linebacker Josh McNary on the commissioners exempt list Thursday, less than 24 hours after prosecutors filed criminal charges against him. Reserve offensive tackle Xavier Nixon missed the teams flight Saturday and was inactive. Running back Trent Richardson missed the walk-through Saturday and didnt travel with the team.Weve got too good of veteran leadership in that locker room, and were not going to use that as any excuse, Pagano said.BABY STEPS: The Colts have improved by one game in each of Lucks three seasons. They lost in the wild-card round to Baltimore in 2012 and the Patriots beat them in the divisional round last year.Well learn from this, well grow from this and well go to work and make 2015 better than 2014, Pagano said.SPREADING THE WEALTH: Rob Gronkowski didnt catch his first pass until the middle of the third quarter and finished with only three receptions for 28 yards and one touchdown. But the Patriots didnt need much from their All-Pro tight end, who was matched up against nemesis Sergio Brown.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '