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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- That hangover from the Big East tournament is gone for Villanova. Darrun Hilliard scored 16 points, JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 and the Wildcats beat Milwaukee 73-53 on Thursday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Villanova (29-4), the No. 2 seed in the East Region, will play seventh-seeded Connecticut (27-8) in the third round Saturday. The Huskies held off Saint Josephs 89-81 in overtime. No. 15 seed Milwaukee (21-14), the surprise champion of the Horizon League, made it a game all the way, leading much of the first half before fading late. Villanova was eager to get back on the court after being upset last week by Seton Hall in the Big East quarterfinals, but the effect of that loss seemed to linger. A 14-point run spanning halftime gave the Wildcats a nine-point lead early in the second half and they held on. Hilliards long 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8:10 left gave them a 53-42 advantage, and the Panthers couldnt recover. James Bell had 12 points for Villanova on 5-of-14 shooting and missed all eight 3s he attempted. Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart each scored 11. Austin Arians had 17 points to lead Milwaukee and Matt Tiby scored 10. Jordan Aaron, Milwaukees leading scorer, finished with six points, all in the second half, on 1-of-15 shooting. Kyle Kelm, second in scoring, had eight points, all after the break. The Panthers rags-to-riches march into the tourney ended, but not without a fight. Villanova outscored Milwaukee 46-20 in the paint and had 19 fast-break points to overcome a woeful 4-for-23 shooting performance from behind the arc. After struggling mightily, Villanova scored the final nine points of the first half and the first five of the second. Pinkstons three-point play and follow gave Villanova a 32-23 lead. Kelms first basket of the game, a layup off the glass, stopped a scoreless skid that had lasted more than 6 minutes and cut the lead to seven. After Aaron missed an open 3, Hart countered with a three-point play for Villanova and Jenkins followed with a 3 in transition after blocking a shot by JeVon Lyle at the other end. That gave the Wildcats a 42-33 lead midway through the half. Villanova extended the margin to 55-44 on Harts layup with 7:19 left, and the Panthers never got closer than nine the rest of the way. Milwaukee closed the season with five straight wins, including a surprising overtime win over preseason favourite Green Bay in the Horizon Conference tournament, to surpass the 20-win plateau. Not bad for a team that finished 8-24 a year ago. Milwaukees 13-win increase was the best year-to-year improvement in the country, and the Panthers were the only team in the NCAA tournament that finished last in its league a year ago. They showed they belonged on the big stage, too, leading a team ranked in the top 10 for much of the first half. Both defences swarmed right from the opening tip. The Panthers missed their first six shots, getting one of them blocked, and fell behind 6-0. Even high attempts off the glass on drives misfired as the Wildcats tried to set the tone early despite faltering from the field. Halfway through the first half, Villanova led 10-8, the teams were a combined 6 for 29, and the Wildcats were scoreless on five tries from behind the arc. Clearly, the Panthers werent intimidated by the Big East regular-season champions, and J.J. Panoske hit an open 3 from the left wing to give Milwaukee a surprising 13-10 lead with 8 minutes left in the period. The Panthers play in the Wisconsin style that coach Bo Ryan brought to Milwaukee before he took over the Badgers, whipping the ball around looking for the open man. After Bells steal and slam gave Nova a 16-15 lead, a wide-open Arians hit consecutive 3-pointers from the right side for a 21-16 lead with 4:52 left as the Panthers fans cheered. The Wildcats finally settled down, holding the Panthers scoreless for the final 4:05 of the period. Hilliards three-point play tied it at 23, and a driving layup by Bell and a slam dunk by Pinkston put Villanova back on top. Villanova went into the break with a 27-23 lead despite missing all 12 attempts from behind the arc, six by Bell. Villanova averaged nine 3s per game this season and shot 36.1 per cent from long range, but the Wildcats allowed opponents to hit 35.4 per cent of their 3-pointers and the Panthers took advantage, hitting five before the break to stay in the game. Milwaukee relies a lot on Aaron, its leading scorer at 15 points per game. He had four assists and four rebounds but failed to score in the first half, missing seven shots. Kelm, averaging 12.6 points, also went scoreless. Martin St. Louis Jersey . Reimer is winless (0-2-1) since returning from a six-week absence due to concussion-like symptoms. The Maple Leafs dropped a 4-2 decision to the hosting Washington Capitals on Friday. Nikita Kucherov Jersey . For one, he still gets to crank the intensity to the max. "I push pretty angry. I ran pretty angry too though, but I have fun doing it," Lumsden said. http://www.hockeylightning.com/authentic-ryan-mcdonagh-lightning-jersey/ .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have activated defenceman Joni Pitkanen from injured reserve. Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . After the loss, White refused to make good on the bet, instead offering Hoyt tickets to a Bears game. Steven Stamkos Jersey . Martin Reway and David Griger both recorded four points with a goal and three assists each. Mario Lunter, Daniel Gachulinec and Stanislav Horansky also scored for Slovakia (1-0). Dominik Kahun had both goals for Germany (0-2), who lost its opening match to Canada 7-2 on Thursday.OKLAHOMA CITY -- Thunder coach Scott Brooks joked during pregame that he didnt like what he saw from Kyrie Irving at the All-Star game. Brooks coached the West and watched as Irving led the East to a comeback win on his way to earning MVP honours. Brooks didnt like what he saw from Irving on Wednesday night, and it was no joke this time. The point guard made it look like All-Star weekend again, scoring 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Oklahoma City 114-104. Irving also had nine assists, five rebounds and four steals. "Kyrie had a huge performance for us," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "He was very efficient in the 43 minutes that he played tonight, I thought offensively, especially." The young Cavaliers, still adjusting to roster changes since the trade deadline, picked up a meaningful victory. Cleveland shot 14 for 21 from the field in the fourth quarter against the Western Conference-leading Thunder. "To come here and get a win in this building versus this team and those players and that coaching staff, for us, is a good confidence booster," Brown said. "Everything for us right now to be a positive will help us long term just as much as it will short term." It was Oklahoma Citys third straight home loss since the All-Star break. The Thunder lost three games at home the entire season before the break. "No one in the locker room, including myself, feels good about it," Brooks said. "The exciting thing is we know we can do better. We just have to maximize our potential." Jarrett Jack scored 21 points, Spencer Hawes scored 19 and Tristan Thompson added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Kevin Durant had 28 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Russell Westbrook had 24 points and nine assists and Serge Ibaka added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder. Oklahoma City is 0-3 since Westbrook returned from his latest knee surgery. Brooks said the bigger issue for the Thunder is their suddenly porous defence. Oklahoma City, one of the leagues top defensive teams all season, allowed 103 points on 55 per cent shooting against Miami and 125 points on 52 per cent shooting against the Los Angeles Clippers before its latest collapse. "Its a defensive toughness," Brooks said. "We have to get tough on the basketball because were giving up too much penetration. WWe have to fight through screens.ddddddddddddThese are things that weve done a great job at, we just have to get back to it." In the closing seconds of the first half, Westbrook dribbled as the clock wound down, then pulled up in front of Irving and drained a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a 52-51 lead at the break. The Thunder committed 12 turnovers in the first half, but made up for it by shooting 57 per cent from the field. Durant scored 15 points before the break and Westbrook had 13 points and six assists. Irving had 14 points, four assists and three steals at halftime. The Thunder opened the second half with 3s from Durant and Thabo Sefolosha to take a 58-51 lead. A mid-range jumper by Ibaka stretched Oklahoma Citys lead to 62-53, leading Brown to call a timeout. Cleveland regrouped and cut Oklahoma Citys lead to three on an unusual play. The Cavaliers Luol Deng shot a jumper and Nick Collison was called for goaltending and issued a technical foul for grabbing the net. Irving made the free throw to make it a 69-66 game. The Thunder led 76-72 at the end of the period. "Oklahoma City, they came out and kind of punched us in the mouth a little bit in that third quarter, and our guys didnt panic," Brown said. "They kind of stayed with it." Matthew Dellavedova tied the game at 81 with a floater early in the fourth quarter. Later, a breakaway dunk by Alonzo Gee gave the Cavaliers a 90-86 edge with 7:10 to play. Durants 3-pointer gave the Thunder a 97-95 lead, but the Cavaliers responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Jack and Irving, and they controlled the game from there. "Obviously, playing against a great team, youre going to get up for it," Irving said. "Everyone in the league wants to play against a great team like this, especially on their home floor. But this game doesnt mean any more than any other game that we have coming up. Every game just means a lot at this point, no matter who were playing." NOTES: It was the second consecutive start for Thunder C Steven Adams. He replaced Kendrick Perkins, who is out for six weeks with a groin injury. ... Hawes started for the second time since being traded from Philadelphia. ... Durant was honoured during pregame for being selected as the Western Conference player of the month for January. ... Thunder G Derek Fisher was issued a technical foul early in the second quarter, his third of the season. 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