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  12 августа 2019 г., 5:38:31 MSK

  ARLINGTON, Texas -- Coaches and players left them. Bobby Ryan Jersey . Others told them to go away. The guys who stuck around at UConn ended up with the last laugh and a pretty good prize to go with it: The national title. Shabazz Napier turned in another all-court masterpiece Monday night to lift the Huskies to a 60-54 win over Kentuckys freshmen and bring home a championship hardly anyone saw coming. "Youre looking at the hungry Huskies," Napier told the crowd and TV audience as confetti rained down. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens when you banned us." The senior guard had 22 points, six rebounds and three assists, and his partner in defensive lock-down, Ryan Boatright, finished with 14 points. The victory comes only a short year after the Huskies were barred from March Madness because of grades problems. That stoked a fire no one could put out in 2014. Napier kneeled down and put his forehead to the court for a long while after the buzzer sounded. He was wiping back tears when he cut down the net. "I see my guys enjoying it," Napier said. "Thats the most special feeling ever." UConn (32-8) never trailed in the final. The Huskies led by as many as 15 in the first half and watched the Wildcats (29-11) trim the deficit to one with 8:13 left. But Aaron Harrison, who pulled out wins with clutch 3-pointers in Kentuckys last three games, missed a 3 from the left corner that wouldve given the Cats the lead. Kentucky never got that close again. One key difference in a six-point loss: Kentuckys 11 missed free throws -- a flashback of sorts for coach John Calipari, whose Memphis team blew a late lead against Kansas after missing multiple free throws in the 2008 final. The Wildcats went 13 for 24. UConn went 10 for 10, including Lasan Kromahs two to seal the game with 25.1 seconds left. "We had our chances to win," Calipari said. "Were missing shots, were missing free throws. We just didnt have enough." Calipari said he decided not to foul at the end "because theyre not missing." In all, Caliparis One and Doners got outdone by a more fundamentally sound, more-seasoned group that came into this tournament a seventh-seeded afterthought but walked away with the programs fourth national title since 1999. They were the highest seed to win it all since Rollie Massiminos eighth-seeded Villanova squad in 1985. Napier and Boatright now go down with Kemba Walker, Emeka Okafor, Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen and all those other UConn greats. This adds to the schools titles in 1999, 2004 and 2011. "When they say Ray, Rip, Ben, Emeka, Kemba -- theyll soon say Shabazz," said their former coach, Jim Calhoun, who was in the crowd along with former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and a father-and-son team whose dance to the "Happy" song got huge applause when played on the big screen at AT&T Stadium. The crowd was cheering for UConn at the end. A short year ago, the Huskies were preparing for their first season in the new American Athletic Conference after being booted from the Big East and not welcomed by any of the so-called power conferences. Calhoun, who built the program, left because of health problems. And most damaging -- the NCAA ban triggered an exodus of five key players to the NBA or other schools. Napier stuck around. So did Boatright. And Calhouns replacement, Kevin Ollie, figured out how to make their grit, court sense and loyalty pay off. "Its not about going to the next level, its not about going to the pros, but playing for your university, playing for your teammates," Niels Giffey said. "And Im so proud of all the guys on this team that stuck with this team." They were one step ahead of Kentucky all night, holding off furious rally after furious rally. Kentuckys biggest push started when James Young (20 points, seven rebounds) posterized Amida Brimah with a monster dunk to start a three-point play and trigger an 8-0 run. In the middle of that, Boatright, who shut down Harrisons twin brother, Andrew, most of the night, twisted his left ankle while receiving an innocuous-looking pass from Napier. He called a timeout. Got it worked on and came back out. "Ive got a lot of heart and I wasnt coming out," Boatright said. "We put in too much work all year for me to give up on an ankle sprain." Napier and Giffey made 3s on UConns two possessions after the timeout, and that one-point lead was back up to five -- fairly comfortable by this tight, taut, buzzer-beating tournaments standards. The big question in Kentucky is what will happen to all those freshmen. Julius Randle (10 points, six rebounds) is a lottery pick if he leaves for the NBA. Young and the Harrison brothers could be first-rounders. The big question is whether theyll want to leave on this note. "I think all these kids are coming back, so I think we should be good," Calipari deadpanned, getting big laughs. He called his group the most coachable bunch hes ever had. They were pre-season No. 1, a huge disappointment through much of this season. They were seeded an uninspiring eighth for the tournament and came on strong in time for a run to the final. But they got outdone by a team on a different sort of mission -- a team led by Napier, who stuck with the program even though he knew the 2012-13 season was for nothing but fun. But what fun 2013-14 turned out to be. Napier was named the Final Fours Most Outstanding Player and he earned it on both ends of the court, keeping a hand in Aaron Harrisons face most of the night and holding him to a 3-for-7, seven-point, no-damage night. He could also shoot it a bit -- including a 3-pointer in the first half when UConn was having trouble dissecting the Kentucky zone. The shot came from about 30 feet, right in front of the edge of the Final Four logo at Center Court, or, as Dick Vitale put it: "He shot that one from Fort Worth." They felt it back in Storrs, where they could be celebrating another title shortly. The UConn women play for the national title Tuesday. If they win, it will be the first sweep of the titles since 2004. The last school to do it: UConn, of course. Craig Anderson Senators Jersey . Halak did not get the start in the Washington Capitals Tuesday night game against the St. Bobby Ryan Senators Jersey . Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo ended its five-game losing streak at home at a First Niagara Center filled with plenty of vocal Toronto fans. And that made it all the sweeter for the Sabres. Christian Ehrhoff scored 38 seconds into overtime and the Buffalo Sabres picked up a 3-2 win on Friday. "It is always really fun to play," Ehrhoff said. "The fans that come down sometimes outnumber the Sabres fans and it brings out the best in our fans, too. They are up for the challenge and they were really loud again tonight." Ehrhoff carried the puck from the right point to the centre of the ice before sending a soft wrist shot on goal that went through James Reimers legs. "I didnt have the time to do a big wind-up there or get it hard," Ehrhoff said. "I saw the opening between the legs and just put one through there." Matt Moulson and Luke Adam also scored for the Sabres, who got 22 saves from Ryan Miller and came from behind twice to force overtime. Nikolai Kulemin and Phil Kessel scored for Toronto, which has lost six straight road games. Buffalos second home win over the Leafs was just its third win at home in 15 attempts and its sixth win overall. The long-standing rivalry between the two teams helped drive a Sabres team thats struggled to find goals. "We can see the guys getting a little fired up and its about time," Miller said. "Its good. This kind of rivalry helps. Its always nice to beat them here because you feel like theres so many Leafs fans here, its fun to send them home." Toronto opened the scoring 2:12 into the first period when Kessel came down the left wing and put a snap shot over Millers left pad. Buffalo tied the score on the power play at 7:57 of the second period. With Reimer out of position, a falling Ville Leino used his backhand to find Moulson, who scored his 10th goal of the season and his second in as many games. The Leafs took the lead back 2 1/2 minutes later after Brian Flynn gave the puck awaay behind the Sabres net. Jean-Gabriel Pageau Senators Jersey. A pass from Trevor Smith deflected in front of the goal, where Kulemin shot it out of the air and past Miller. Adam shot a Reimer rebound under the goalies glove at 18:50 of the second and the teams finished the second period tied at 2. "Ever since Ted (Nolan) got here, the guys are just building on each and every game," Adam said. "We feel a lot more confident as a team, as players, when we come to the rink every morning for practice. Thats carrying over and were playing a lot better." The score was Adams first NHL goal since April 5. The third period was light on scoring chances until the 12:42 mark, when Reimer made consecutive left pad saves on Adam. James van Riemsdyk then had a chance to end the game in regulation on a last-minute breakaway, but Matt DAgostini caught the Leafs forward from behind and swiped the puck into the corner. Van Riemsdyk was surprised there was no penalty on the play. "Unless were playing football, I dont know," he said, later adding, "Usually when youre in all alone and you get your legs taken out from under you, you expect something, especially when the calls were like they were, five or six to one." The Leafs came into the game as the second-least penalized team in the league but picked up 10 penalty minutes on the night, while the Sabres only gave Torontos efficient power play one opportunity. "The breaks arent going our way and thats when youve got to find ways to create more," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. "We had a power play where we didnt get much going in the third period and we gave up a power-play goal earlier in the game." Leino and Tyler Myers each had two assists. NOTES: Leafs LW Mason Raymond played in his 400th NHL game. ... D Brayden McNabb, C Mikhail Grigorenko and D Jamie McBain were scratches for Buffalo. ... Both teams play on the road Saturday, with Toronto visiting Montreal and Buffalo at New Jersey. ' ' '