Parapsychologie Info & Talk » in the game as a pinch-runner,

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. Cheap Curry Shoes Clearance .Y. -- A month ago, Syracuse was unbeaten, ranked No. Wholesale Curry Shoes .5 million, four-year contract with the Texas Rangers that could be worth $32. http://www.discountcurryshoes.com/ . Louis Blues have returned to the top spot in the TSN. Cheap Curry Shoes . The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Wholesale Stephen Curry Shoes . Peter Dawson took his long before he started the job. "I was playing an American one year at Oxford Golf Club, and he introduced me to this travelling mulligan," Dawson said.DETROIT -- Mike Napolis drive cleared the wall in centre field and landed in the ivy -- a spot at Comerica Park usually reserved for Miguel Cabreras prodigious homers. In this series, Napoli has been the one hitting key home runs, while Cabrera remains stymied by a tough Boston bullpen. Napoli opened the scoring with another big long ball, Junichi Tazawa again bested Cabrera in a crucial spot and the Red Sox moved within one win of reaching the World Series by edging the Detroit Tigers 4-3 on Thursday night. Boston returns to Fenway Park with a 3-2 lead in the AL championship series. The Red Sox can win the American League pennant Saturday, when the Tigers Max Scherzer faces the Red Soxs Clay Buchholz in Game 6. "Our guys are well aware of where we are," Boston manager John Farrell said. "But at the same time the beauty of them is to not get ahead of themselves, and that will be the case once that first pitch is thrown on Saturday." Cabrera was thrown out at the plate in the first inning, halting an early Detroit rally, and he hit into a double play against Tazawa with runners at the corners in the seventh. The Tigers scored a run on the grounder, but it was a trade-off the Red Sox were willing to make. Napoli opened a three-run second with his homer off Anibal Sanchez. Detroits starters had allowed only three runs in 27 innings through the first four games of the series. After pitching six no-hit innings in Game 1, Sanchez allowed four -- three earned -- in six innings Thursday. "It seemed like he was living on the corners and got us to chase some pitches the first game," Napoli said. "Me personally, I was just trying to get something up in the zone and see pitches like I always do, and I was able to get something up." Jon Lester allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. He walked three and struck out three, and the Boston bullpen held on to finish off the fourth game of the series to be decided by one run. "Theres probably a reason I dont have any hair," Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "Its stressful." Down 4-2 in the seventh, the Tigers put runners on first and third with nobody out when Jose Iglesias and Torii Hunter singled. Cabrera, who struck out with runners at the corners against Tazawa in the eighth inning of a 1-0 loss in Game 3, hit a soft grounder to second for a double play this time. "We have to go to Fenway and we have to fight hard enough to win a game," Cabrera said. "If we do that, we have to keep fighting and get the next one. Weve done this before, and weve got great pitchers. We just have to do our jobs." Craig Breslow retired slumping Prince Fielder to end the seventh and got the first out of the eighth. Then Koji Uehara retired five straight for the save. Now Detroit turns to Scherzer, a 21-game winner, to try to extend the season. The Tigers will have Justin Verlander ready to pitch Game 7 if there is one. Detroit may be without catcher Alex Avila in Boston. He left after the top of the fourth with a strained left knee and is day to day. Boston led in only four of 36 innings in the first four games, but the Red Sox won two of them. They struck early in Game 5 when Napolis drive easily cleared the 420-foot marker in centre and landed in the ivy above two rows of bushes. That was the start of a three-run second inning, and it was Napolis second homer of the series. His solo shot accounted for the only run of Game 3. Napoli wasnt all that concerned with where the ball went, as long as it cleared the wall. "It can go in the first row for all I care," he said. Detroit revamped its lineup before its Game 4 win -- droppinng Austin Jackson from the leadoff spot to eighth and moving almost everyone else up a place.dddddddddddd The Tigers went with that same general framework Thursday, but it was Farrells adjustments that paid off. After Napolis homer, Jonny Gomes -- starting in left field instead of Daniel Nava -- reached on an error by Cabrera at third base. One out later, 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts -- he started at third instead of Will Middlebrooks -- hit a double. David Ross, catching in place of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, doubled with men on second and third. Only one run scored on the play because Bogaerts didnt get a good jump from second, but he came home anyway when Sanchez couldnt handle Jacoby Ellsburys line drive back to the mound. It went off Sanchezs glove for an infield single and a 3-0 lead. Boston missed out on another run that inning when Ross was thrown out at home on Shane Victorinos grounder. Ross plowed through Avila at the plate -- then gave Avila a pat on the backside after he held onto the ball. Ross and Avila have both dealt with concussion problems this year, and Avila was later hit in the mask by a foul ball. In the third, Iglesias gave the Detroit fans something to cheer about with a terrific catch on a shallow flyball by David Ortiz. Iglesias, who plays shortstop but was shifted over to the right of second base, ran all the way out to short left field, finally catching the ball with a quick snatch of his glove hand. But Napoli followed with a double, went to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out, two-strike wild pitch by Sanchez to make it 4-0. Sanchez allowed nine hits and struck out five. Lester worked in and out of trouble. He was helped in the first inning when Cabrera was thrown out at home for the third out. Cabrera has been slowed by a number of injuries over the last couple months, and when Jhonny Peralta singled to left, it appeared the Tigers would have the bases loaded with two outs and Omar Infante batting. But coach Tom Brookens started waiving Cabrera around third, and when Brookens changed course and put up the stop sign, the Detroit slugger ran through it and was out at home on a play that wasnt close. "Tommy was waving," Leyland said. "In defence of him, the natural instinct is to wave right away -- you dont want to stop him really too quick in case something would happen in the outfield with the ball, the guy would boot it or something. Its hard to get him going again. He just held him too late. With Cabrera right now, youve got to be cautious." The Tigers had two on and one out in the fourth when Brayan Pena pinch-hit for the injured Avila. Pena hit a grounder to the pitcher, and the Red Sox turned a double play with a nifty catch-and-relay at second by shortstop Stephen Drew. Cabrera managed an RBI single in the fifth. With two on and one out in the sixth, the Red Sox pulled Lester, bringing in Tazawa. Pena immediately singled home a run, but Jackson hit into an inning-ending double play. NOTES: At 21 years, 16 days old, Bogaerts became the youngest Red Sox player to start a post-season game. The previous record holder was Babe Ruth, who was the starting pitcher at 21 years and 246 days old in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series. ... Thursdays game was played under a misty rain at times, but was never delayed. ... There was an odd play in the Boston ninth when Middlebrooks, in the game as a pinch-runner, went from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ross. Cabrera came charging in to field the bunt, and Pena was slow to get to third and cover the base. Pena caught Fielders throw and, when he spun to attempt a tag, he first made contact with umpire Rob Drake, who was very close to the bag. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '