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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Connecticut and Kentucky couldnt have met in last years championship game and few people gave them a chance to be in this years. Seventh-seeded Connecticut and eighth-seeded Kentucky meet Monday night in one of the unlikeliest NCAA championship games ever. Watch the game live on TSN at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt. Neither was around in last years post-season -- Connecticut because of a tournament ban over academic issues; Kentucky because it didnt make the field. And neither looked like national title contenders at times this season. Kentucky (29-10) and its outstanding freshmen went from preseason No. 1 to out of the rankings after some bad losses. And Connecticut (31-8) was not a popular post-season pick after finishing tied for third in the American Athletic Conference with multiple losses to Louisville and SMU. In the tournament, the Huskies have stopped some of the countrys top guards and put themselves in position for their fourth national championship, the previous three under Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun. "Hopefully we have an opportunity to fall back on our defence," second-year coach Kevin Ollie said. "We have been doing that the whole year." If Kentucky has a chance to win in the final minute, that defence better pay attention to guard Aaron Harrison, one of five freshmen starters. He has hit huge 3-pointers in the Wildcats last three games. Harrison rattled in a 26-footer with 5.7 seconds to go in the 74-73 win over Wisconsin in the semifinals. He made almost the exact same shot with 2.3 seconds left against Michigan for a 75-72 win that sent the Wildcats to the Final Four. Against Louisville, he hit a 3 with 39 seconds left to give Kentucky the lead for good in a 74-69. "The biggest thing is hes not afraid to miss," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "Hes OK with it. Hes comfortable in his own skin. ... If youre going to make those kind of shots, you absolutely cannot be afraid to miss them." These two programs have combined to win six of the last 18 NCAA titles. "Playing against Connecticut, I mean, Im just happy were still playing," Calipari said. Neither program could say that last year. Connecticut was banned from the post-season after failing to meet NCAA academic standard. It had practice limitations and lost a scholarship. The players could have transferred but didnt. The Huskies finished 20-10 in Ollies first year. They took the hit and made it back to the biggest stage. "Its actually very impressive," NCAA president Mark Emmert said Sunday. "To see that team hold together. I think its a commitment to those young men on that team that hung together." The leader of the group is All-American Shabazz Napier who leads the team in almost every statistical category. Hes the guy who makes the big shot or big pass. Fellow guard Ryan Boatright has taken some of the spotlight recently for his defensive performances against the likes of Keith Appling of Michigan State and Scottie Wilbekin of Florida. "Defence is the biggest thing for me. The points will come," Boatright said. "I want to make him uncomfortable, dont let him get in a rhythm or flow. Their guards, God blessed them with height and they will try to take advantage of smaller guys like us but Ive been the smaller guy my whole life and Ive never backed down." Kentucky is playing its best basketball lately, led by big man Julius Randle and the Harrison twins. "We just had too much talent and we saw in spurts how good we could be," Randle said, "so it just felt like it was a matter of time before it clicked." This is Caliparis fourth Final Four, but the first two -- Massachusetts in 1996 and Memphis in 2008 -- were vacated over NCAA rules violations. Now the Wildcats are on an 11-game winning streak in the NCAA tournament and they are one win from a ninth national championship for Kentucky. "We all play the game of basketball to compete against the best," Napier said. "This is one of them games. ... They worked hard to get to this point and we did too. Were going to do our best to get this W." Nike Air Max Norge . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games. Billige Nike Sko Air Max . Samir Nasris 88th-minute equalizer at Etihad Stadium will be of little consolation to City, which is now six points behind league leader Liverpool and four points behind second-place Chelsea. Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sundays 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons. http://www.nikeairmaxnorge.com/ .C. -- The Steve Smith era in Carolina is over. Nike Air Max Salg . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Nike Air Max Net . As for regular Olympic spectators, theyre being warned that most travel insurance policies wont cover acts of terrorism or war. The Games in southern Russia, which run from Feb. 7-23, are being staged amid unprecedented security and under global warnings of danger.NEW YORK -- James Harden was back in the lineup, Jeremy Lin was back at Madison Square Garden, and that was just enough to help the Houston Rockets withstand Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks. Harden scored 36 points in his return from a one-game absence, and the Rockets overcame Anthonys 45 points for a 109-106 victory Thursday night. Anthony had the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season and grabbed 10 rebounds, but it wasnt enough for the Knicks in their fourth straight home loss. Chandler Parsons added 22 points and Lin had 21 for the Rockets, who beat the Knicks for the eighth straight time even on a mostly silent night from Dwight Howard, largely outplayed by Andrea Bargnani. "Jeremy stepped up, James played big and thats what we need," Howard said. Howard had just seven points with his 15 rebounds, though he did make a pair of free throws with 1:15 left that gave Houston a five-point lead. Harden, who missed the Rockets 123-117 overtime loss in Philadelphia on Wednesday with a bruised left foot, scored seven straight Houston points for nine-point lead with 3:51 left. He finished 16 of 18 at the line. But there was plenty of excitement left, including Anthony just missing a potential four-point play when the Rockets fouled him intentionally behind the arc leading by three with 5 seconds left. Anthony threw the ball up and it went in, but officials ruled it came after Harden fouled him. The Rockets hadnt fouled in similar situations lately, and both Toronto and Philadelphia made late 3s to force them into overtime. "It seems like that has happened a lot to us lately. Last-second shots. The first two times you know we didnt foul and they made big 3s. Tonight a foul and they still made a big 3," Harden said. Not quite. Knicks coach Mike Woodson wanted referees to review the call, though it isnt reviewable, and Anthony wouldnt say if he believed it should have counted. "My thoughts dont mean anything at this point in time," said Anthony, who did express his frustration with some of the calls Harden received. "It really doesnt matter right now for me to say whether I thought it was a good call or not. So therefore we move on from that." Anthony made both free throwss -- he was trying to miss the second intentionally -- but Harden answered with a pair to make it 109-106 with 2.dddddddddddd9 seconds to play, and J.R. Smith was well off with a long-distance heave at the buzzer. Bargnani scored 24 points for the Knicks and played surprisingly strong defence on Howard, who shot 1 of 5. Smith scored 15 points in his second start but shot just 4 of 16 for the Knicks, who also cost themselves when Anthonys intentional foul on Howard away from the ball came with under 2 minutes left, allowing the Rockets to retain possession. Lin, back to coming off the bench after starting Wednesday in Hardens place, has won both games back at MSG, where he burst onto the worldwide scene two years ago during his memorable run of Linsanity. Lin came in on another nice roll, scoring 65 points in his previous two games, the best two-game stretch of his career. But the Rockets wasted his 34-point, 12-assist game Wednesday that featured a Rockets record-tying nine 3-pointers. "We played more as a team today," Lin said. "We really moved the ball, shared the ball. We played really unselfish today and we also did what we needed to do defensively." Houston led 28-23 after one and was starting to run away with it when it opened a 49-35 lead during Parsons run of 11 straight Rockets points. But he didnt score the rest of the half after his driving dunk with 3:10 left, and Anthony and Bargnani combined for three 3-pointers during a 13-2 run to close the half and cut it to 53-52. "Weve let four games in a row at home get away, thats something we hadnt done since Ive been here," Woodson said. "Thats kind of frustrating from a coachs standpoint, but were still learning each other and trying to figure it out, and we will eventually." NOTES: Center Omer Asik didnt play for the Rockets after the Houston Chronicle reported he had requested a trade. He had been starting along with Howard until coach Kevin McHale scrapped the alignment. McHale said Asik told him he didnt feel well and that he hadnt heard about any rumours. ... Rockets backup forward Greg Smith left with what appeared to be a right leg injury following an awkward landing after playing just 40 seconds in the first quarter. 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