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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. .J. - The New Jersey Devils know the odds are against them as they chase a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. . Both sides came closest to scoring in the first half, when Roma had a goal from Mattia Destro waved off for offside and Inters Rodrigo Palacio headed high. "A draw was a fair result. Neither squad had many chances," Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic said. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/ ... ersey/.com) - Jenny Boucek is the new head coach of the Seattle Storm. . Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. He succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years. Bach, the longtime favourite, defeated five candidates in a secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping the presidency in European hands. . -- Felix Girard scored on the power play in the third period to lift the Baie-Comeau Drakkar past the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday.(SportsNetwork.com) - Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant said the Philadelphia Eagles were being kinda cheap during a Thanksgiving debacle at AT&T Stadium. They beat us and Im going to accept that, but (expletive) cant wait, but not looking past Chicago, but I cannot wait to go up there and play (the Eagles) again, cannot wait. The Cowboys didnt look past the Bears and have already shifted focus to the Eagles Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. In last Thursdays 41-28 defeat of Chicago at Soldier Field, Bryant caught six passes for 82 yards and Tony Romo appeared spry in passing for 205 yards with three touchdowns. Romo, whos been bothered by back and rib issues, did not throw an interception. NFL leading rusher DeMarco Murray harassed the Bears with 179 yards and a touchdown on a season-high 32 carries and also caught nine passes for 49 yards. Murray has rushed for 100-plus yards 11 times this season and is first in the league in rushing yards (1,606), yards per game (123.5), carries (320) and is tied for first with nine rushing TDs. Murray had a season-low 73 yards on 20 carries in a 33-10 loss to Philadelphia on Thanksgiving. Now he is 167 yards short from the Cowboys single-season rushing record of 1,773 set by Emmitt Smith in 1995. He needs 393 to reach the illustrious group of 2,000-yard rushers. Obviously, I hear about it, but Im not thinking about it, Murray said. Im just going out here and trying to win some games. The Cowboys, who are 19-2 when Murray has 20 or more carries, have won three of their last four games and sit tied with the Eagles at 9-4 atop the NFC East standings. Murray deserves much of the credit for getting the Cowboys to where they are because the running game was absent in recent years and Romo was forced to do it all himself. Murray said his body feels great after all the pounding it has experienced. The Eagles held him in check a few weeks ago, but Murray is ready for the rematch at the Linc. We know whats at stake. We cant make it bigger than it is, Murray said. Weve got to come out and not try to do too much ... just stick to our gameplan, stick to our identity of what weve done in the past. In four games against the Eagles, Murray has rushed for 278 yards and two touchdowns on 68 touches. He is facing a Philly defense that limited Seattle bruising back Marshawn Lynch to 86 yards on 23 carries. After visiting the Eagles, Dallas will host Indianapolis and visit Washington to close out the regular season. Philadelphias potent offense was shut down completely in Sundays 24-14 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Head coach Chip Kellys up- tempo offense ran only 45 plays and amassed a season-low 139 yards. LeSean McCoy had a death in the family leading up to the game and said his focus wasnt entirely there. He had 50 yards on 17 carries and a costly fumble to open the second half. McCoy managed to pass Wilbert Montgomery as the franchises all-time leading rusher. I didnt imagine when I got drafted here that Id potentially have a chance to hold the rushing record as an Eagle, McCoy said. Thats something big. Thats something Im looking forward to. The main goal is just to win the game, obviously. But in the way of doing that, Id love to accomplish that. McCoy ran for a season-best 159 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries against the Cowboys on Nov. 27, and will be a big factor again this week. The only thing you can do is win to get past this, McCoy said of the losing feeling. That is the only feeling that makes everything go away. We will get back to the drawing boards, we will get back to practice, we will train and prepare hard. It is a big, big game, a must-win type of game. And there is nothing better than having them (Cowboys) here, in Philly. I guess we will see this Sunday. Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez had two touchdown passes and an interception last Sunday, and completed 10-of-20 attempts for only 96 yards. Tight end Zach Ertz led the receiving core with 39 yards and a touchdown on two receptions. Jeremy Maclin had three catches for 96 yards and a score. We have a very good Dallas team coming in here next Sunday, said Maclin, who recorded eight catches for 108 yards on Thanksgiving. We have to learn from this and flush it. Maclin talked about what to expect from a Cowboys team looking for revenge. I think itll be really different, he said. Obviously theyre going to come prepared, and obviously they know whats at stake here. We do as well. What we did to them on Thanksgiving is probably still in the back of their minds, so were going to prepare for a battle and we dont expect anything less. Philadelphia had won two straight and four of five games before the Seahawks stole a victory in the City of Brotherly Love.dddddddddddd Sundays loss put the Eagles behind a few tiebreaking scenarios against conference powers Seattle, Green Bay, Arizona and possibly San Francisco. The Eagles must have short memories and remain focused for a second straight NFC East crown. They will visit Washington and New York (Giants) to end the regular season. Dallas leads the all-time series with Philadelphia by a 62-49 count, including the playoffs. The Eagles had lost three in a row in this series until a 24-22 victory last Dec. 29 at AT&T Stadium clinched the NFC East. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Romo wasnt himself in the loss to the Eagles on Thanksgiving and passed for 199 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. He looked in obvious disarray and it wont get any easier because the Eagles defense is improving each week. Eagles linebacker Brandon Graham said the Eagles need this one Sunday. We definitely need it. We need every game from here on out because at the end of the day were still sitting tied for first in the division with Dallas, Graham said Sunday. We need this one coming up and we will be playing with our hair on fire next week. Romo is 7-6 as a starter against the Eagles with 3,024 passing yards, 17 TDs and 15 INTs. Look for him to find good friend and tight end Jason Witten, who needs four catches for an 11th straight season with at least 50. Witten was visibly upset on the sidelines in the first meeting with Philadelphia. On defense, they present a lot of challenges because theyre so good up front, Witten remarked about the Eagles. They can move around, get pressure on the outside, and get pressure on the inside, too. If you look back at our game, we werent ever able to get anything going. Dallas had no trouble getting the offense going on the road in Chicago, however, and has to do it again in enemy territory. They came down here and they did what they needed to do to win the game, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said of the Eagles. We can look at different things in that game and say we did things the right way and we had some success. We didnt do things the right way and they had some success. So thats how we have to look at it, control what we can control. That game is done with. Its been done with. Its (not) coming back. The challenge ahead is what were focused on. The Cowboys struggled to slow down Kellys offense, but they can take a long gaze at what Seattle did Sunday. The Cowboys defense isnt as talented or nasty as the Seahawks, so theyll have to come prepared and improvise. Who knows which Sanchez will appear this weekend. Will it be last weeks disaster or the hero on Turkey Day? Sanchez has won both career starts against Dallas, and missed a few throws and open receivers versus the Seahawks. Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox has a sack in three of his past five games and the team is second in the NFL with 44.0 -- just behind Buffalo (48.0). Linebacker Connor Barwin leads the NFC with 13 1/2 sacks and has 11 1/2 in the past five at the Linc, where a 10-game winning streak in the regular season came to rest versus Seattle. Cox, Barwin and the rest of Phillys defense are hoping to give Romo fits in the pocket. Not a lot of quarterbacks want to take a lot of hits. It messes with them, Cox said. You hit a quarterback early in the game, he is looking for it later in the game. Some lay down, some try to scramble out. Linebacker Mychal Kendricks has been disruptive the past few weeks. and his speed is a major asset. He made a solid stop on Murray on 4th down on Thanksgiving and leads the team with 65 tackles. OVERALL ANALYSIS The Cowboys are salivating and frothing at the mouth to get this rematch started in south Philadelphia. More commonly known for falling apart in December, the Cowboys will still be alive in the postseason hunt even with another loss to the Eagles. But Dallas wants revenge very badly. Im anxious. Im excited to go back down there and get another shot at those guys, Cowboys defensive back Orlando Scandrick said. Thats a good football team that were going to play. Im really excited to go down there, to their place, and get another shot in this cold weather. Actually the Cowboys will be heading up to Philadelphia judging by any map of the United States. Dallas will be headed back down to the Lone Star State with a tough loss and a game behind the Eagles after a back-and-forth affair. Sanchez and the Eagles will have their mind right for this one and McCoy will appear more focused. Sports Network predicted outcome: Eagles 27, Cowboys 24 ' ' '