The Wildcats became the highest seed to fall in the NCAA tournament so far after Shabazz Napier scored 25 points in leading No. 7 seed Connecticut to a 77-65 victory in a third-round game Saturday night.
Napier had 21 points in the second half and helped put the game away by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to put the Huskies ahead 54-45 with 6:08 remaining. Napier 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 left calf with 4:01 left.
Connecticut (28-8) advanced to the East Regional semifinals in New York City next week, when they'll play the winner of Sunday's game between third-seeded Iowa State and No. 6 seed North Carolina.
UConn coach Kevin Ollie improved to 2-0 in his tournament debut, two years since taking over after Jim Calhoun stepped down because of health issues, and a year after the Huskies were barred from postseason play because of academic sanctions.
Ryan Arcidiacono scored 18 points for Villanova (29-5) in a matchup of two former Big East rivals.
The Wildcats' loss came on the heels of another upset in Buffalo. The game was played immediately after Dayton, the 11th seed in the South Region, beat third-seeded Syracuse 55-53.
