ARLINGTON, Texas -- Coaches and players left them. 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. Morgan Burnett Steelers Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. Joe Haden Steelers Jersey . The Raptors two leading scorers were never able to co-exist the way they hoped or the team had envisioned, but individually DeRozan was thriving, in the midst of a career season. http://www.steelerspronfl.com/Youth-Jon-Bostic-Elite-Jersey/. Ellis had a season-high 37 points and two key assists late, Dirk Nowitzki led a fourth-quarter rally with 14 of his 35 points, and the Mavericks spoiled Howards best offensive night in Houston with a 123-120 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night. Mason Rudolph Steelers Jersey . -- The Atlanta Braves added to their extensive wave of long-term deals with their young stars on Sunday by agreeing to a $42 million, four-year contract with All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel. Sean Davis Jersey . I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game. SEATTLE -- Less than a week ago, nothing was going right for Kyle Seager and the Mariners. Since then Seager just keeps hitting home runs and Seattle has started to see some wins. Seager hit a pair of homers Sunday, including a three-run shot in the eighth, to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 6-5 comeback win against the Texas Rangers. Seager has five homers in his last four games, a power surge that started with a two-homer game against the Astros on Wednesday. Before that game, Seager was hitting .156 with no home runs and two RBI, a slump that matched the teams performance -- Seattle lost its eighth straight game Tuesday. In the four games since, hes gone 8 for 15, added five homers and 11 RBI and raised his season average to .228 while the Mariners have won three of the four. Hes also had at least two hits in all four games, tying a career-best streak. "Its been a good run. I think if you continue to stay with the program and not panic, hopefully itll come around sooner or later," Seager said. "Its been feeling good for a little while. The results obviously werent what I was hoping for, but it was starting to come around." The Mariners fell behind 5-0 to Texas early before Seager led the late rally. Seager led off the seventh inning with his first home run and then gave Seattle the lead with his two-out shot down the right field line in the eighth off Alexi Ogando (1-2). "Theres nothing like positive results," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "When you start to get some positive results you feel better about what youre doing and how youre doing it." The comeback victory also gave the Mariners their first home series win against Texas since September 2012. The homers more than made up for an earlier missed opportunity, when Seager struck out with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning. "I thought we had him for a minute," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I thought he was slumping. But I guess hes not." Danny Farquhar (1-0) pitched the eighth to earn the win and Fernando Rodney closed out the ninth for his fifth save. Rangers starter Matt Harrison made his first appearance in more than a year, giving up two runs on three hits in six innings. Harrison was acttivated from the disabled list before the game to make his first appearance since April 6, 2013.dddddddddddd Harrison was the Rangers opening day starter last season but only pitched two games before going on the disabled list with an inflamed nerve in his lower back. He had two back surgeries in a nine-day span a year ago, and another surgery on his right side in September. He battled stiffness in his back and neck during spring training, starting the season on the disabled list. "Glad to be back," Harrison said. "Its been a long road." Harrison had no problems in the first three innings, retiring the first nine batters he faced. But a lengthy top of the fourth -- the Rangers had eight batters and scored three runs to take the 5-0 lead -- seemed to affect Harrison as he came out for the bottom of the inning. Harrison walked Michael Saunders to lead off the fourth, and Robinson Cano got the Mariners first hit with a one-out, run-scoring double. Harrison gave up another single and a walk to load the bases with two outs before Seagers strikeout. Harrison gave up another run in the sixth when Cano singled and later scored on Harrisons wild pitch to cut the Rangers lead to 5-2. Seattle starter Brandon Maurer was knocked out in the fourth inning after giving up five runs on seven hits, but the Mariners bullpen -- Seattle used six pitchers on the day -- gave up just one hit the rest of the way. "They saved us," McClendon said. "Its hard to win games when your bullpen is giving you four, five innings. Its hard to win, and they shut it down. They threw up zeros." NOTES: McClendon gave his usual Nos. 1 and 2 hitters -- OF Abraham Almonte and SS Brad Miller -- the day off. Both players have been struggling offensively, with Almonte hitting .204 and Miller .174. "Well give them both some time off and hopefully theyll bounce back," McClendon said. ... Texas optioned IF Luis Sardinas to Double-A Frisco before the game. There had been speculation the Rangers would place OF Shin-Soo Choo, who hasnt played since his hurting his left ankle at Oakland on Monday, on the DL to make room for Harrison. Washington said the Rangers are waiting to see if Choo will be able to play soon. 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