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. Joe Klecko Jersey .com) - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mat Latos had an arthroscopic procedure performed on his right elbow last week, the teams official site reported Wednesday. 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Garbutt delivered a high hit to Penner in the second period of Sundays game.Its quite surprising to watch the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the practice field this week, loose and calm with no sense of panic or despair a€” considering their four-game losing skid, defeats in six of their last seven games, and sitting in last place in the West Division with just five games to play. Indeed, its a thorough departure from the attitude and tone that engulfed the club last season when October rolled around a€” they were on a three-game losing streak with only a pair of wins next to their name in the East Division standings. But this year something has changed, and its not just the move to the West where the competition jockeying for playoff position is much more fierce for the 6-7 Blue Bombers. (Mike) OShea can say that its not him but he brings a lot of this atmosphere to us, said second-year Bomber Greg Peach of the rookie head coach. It allows us to be the way that we are and compete and have fun doing it. Its a lot of different things. You cant really put your finger on one thing. But for sure Im having a great time playing out here this year. We know what we have here. We know what we can do, and if we shore up what we need to we can get on a run starting with this game (in Ottawa). Determined. Conviction, were the two words OShea chose to describe his teams mood in the days following their 16-11 Week 14 loss to Hamilton. Theyre going to stick together and focus and theyre going to sacrifice what they need to sacrifice to try and get this next win. I have not instilled (those values). Those guys have those values. Thats the bottom line, that weve got a group of guys that came in with those values and theyve shared them amongst each other. It makes it easy, but youre right, it feels good watching them, understanding that theyre not quitting or anything. Theyre determined. But it often takes a leader to bring out the best in collected individuals. It always is from the top down, said fifth-year veteran Chris Greaves. Mike OShea a€” thats his attitude. Never say never, and never quit. So we always bbelieve we can win and its never going to let us down regardless of the circumstances.dddddddddddd Were just going to do our jobs, plain and simple, do whats been asked, and keep high spirits doing it. Absolutely (OShea helped foster that attitude) because hes been through it all. Youve got to listen to a guy whos played 16 years and has won three Grey Cups. Plain and simple. He knows whats required and it comes from the top down. NOTES: Following a week of speculation about whether he would be able to play against Hamilton, quarterback Drew Willy appears back to his old self in practice this week after taking Tuesday off due to some overall body soreness. He will start in Ottawa on Saturday... Middle linebacker Ian Wild (shoulder) and Nick Moore (ankle) will both miss a fourth-consecutive game, while also both looking like theyre champing at the bit to get back into the lineup... Right guard Pat Neufeld (calf) will miss his fifth-straight game this week, with Jarvis Jones remaining at his spot, and Devin Tyler getting a second start at right tackle... Standout rookie halfback Bruce Johnson returns to the starting lineup after missing last week with a heel contusion. Johnsons fill-in last week Johnny Sears, who missed over two months with a hamstring injury, will remain in the lineup. Sears took reps at a few different positions in practice this week... Kick returner Troy Stoudermire, who has lit-up Winnipegs return game since cracking the lineup in early August, watched practice in a walking boot this week. He has been placed on the six-game injured list with a foot/toe injury... With Stoudermire out, Demond Washington and Sam McGuffie will handle return duties. McGuffie also took first-team reps at running back this week, so we may see him get some carries with the offence as well. The soon-to-be 25-year-old heptathlete and decathlete says he plans on training for the 2016 U.S. Olympic team this offseason now that he is done school, where he held the hand-clock 40 record of 4.24 seconds as a freshman at Michigan. ' ' '