NEW YORK -- DeAndre Daniels UConn teammates were going to keep passing him the ball until he cooled off. By the time that happened, it was too late for Iowa State. Daniels scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and the Huskies hung on for an 81-76 victory Friday to reach the East Regional final a year after UConn was barred from the NCAA tournament. "DeAndres a scorer, and once you feel that you have that confidence, the next shots going to go in," said senior Shabazz Napier, who knows a thing or two about scoring himself. "We kept feeding him, and he got super hot." Daniels hit his first six shots after halftime, the only Husky to make a field goal for over 8 1/2 minutes. His 3-pointer gave seventh-seeded UConn a 49-32 lead. The third-seeded Cyclones rallied late, pulling within 67-63 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. But senior Niels Giffey hit a 3 in the corner for his first points since the games opening moments, and when the Huskies (29-8) made their free throws in the final minute, the UConn fans packing Madison Square Garden could celebrate. The Huskies will face fourth-seeded Michigan State on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four after the Spartans beat top-seeded Virginia 61-59 in the late game. Dustin Hogue scored a career-high 34 points for Iowa State (28-8), but Big 12 player of the year Melvin Ejim was 3 of 13 for seven points, more than 11 below his average. The Cyclones, in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2000, were playing their second game without third-leading scorer Georges Niang, who broke his foot in their tournament opener. They trailed by 16 with less than 7 1/2 minutes to go but nearly came all the way back behind Hogues scoring inside. "Thats who these guys are, theyre fighters," coach Fred Hoiberg said. With UConn clinging to a 70-65 lead and less than a minute left, Iowa States Naz Long missed a 3-pointer, and the 6-1 Napier pulled down the rebound and was fouled by Hogue. The guard calmly drilled both free throws. UConn was 20 of 22 from the foul line, while Iowa State was 6 of 15. Napier, the American Athletic Conference player of the year, drained four early 3-pointers, then made only one more field goal the rest of the way. But the quick start by Napier and backcourt mate Ryan Boatright opened up space for the 6-foot-9 Daniels, an inconsistent junior who can score all over the court when hes on. Since a stretch in late February and early March when he failed to reach double figures in four straight games, Daniels had averaged 15 in his last six outings before Friday. Then against Iowa State, he shot 10 of 15 and pulled down 10 rebounds. "With our seniors on this team, I just want them to go out with a bang," Daniels said. Ejim and DeAndre Kane, Iowa States top scorers, were a combined 9 of 31. But Hogue, from nearby Yonkers, found plenty of space, shooting 15 for 19. "To play in the Garden, its something I dreamed about as a kid," he said. After Napiers difficult early 3-pointers -- he was falling away on two of them and stepping back to open a sliver of space on a third -- Boatright and Daniels took over. The three combined for all but six of the Huskies points as they built a 36-26 halftime lead. Second-year coach Kevin Ollie is now 3-0 in the NCAA tournament after taking over for mentor Jim Calhoun, who gave him a big hug after this one was over. The last time UConn made it this far, the Huskies won a national title when Napier and Giffey were freshmen. The current upperclassmen could have transferred after the programs low scores on the NCAAs academic progress measure kept UConn from last years Big East and NCAA tournaments. "We were banned from a lot of things," Ollie said. 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It immediately halts all domestic track and field competitions, including track meets May 12-13 in several Greek cities.BUFFALO, N.Y. - Bill Polian told the Buffalo Bills thanks, but no thanks: Hes taking himself out of the running for a proposed front-office job with his former team.Polian told The Associated Press he has elected to stay in broadcasting after informing Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula of his decision on Thursday. His decision followed several discussions with the Pegulas, who had gauged Polians interest in filling a newly created role overseeing the teams football operations.ESPN, for whom Polian works, first reported the development.Polians announcement comes a day after Bills head coach Doug Marrone left the team by exercising the opt-out clause in his contract.The Bills are coming off a 9-7 season, their best finish in 10 years. Yet, they still missed the playoffs to extend the NFLs longest active post-season drought to 15 years.The Pegulas, who also own the NHL Buffalo Sabres, are new to the NFL. They bought the Bills for a league-record $1.4 billion in October after Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson died in March. The Pegulas turned to Polian in a bid to add a veteran presence to steer the teams development.With Polian out of the picture, their top priority is finding a coach, in what becomes the Bills sixth head-coaching search since Wade Phhillips was fired after the 2000 season.dddddddddddd Marrone, now free to find another job, stepped down after a 15-17 record over two seasons.Its unclear whether the Pegulas will seek outside advice during the coaching search, or rely on team president Russ Brandon and general manager Doug Whaley to identify candidates.At 72, Polian has been working as an NFL TV and radio analyst (with SiriusXM) since 2012, after being fired from his position as Indianapolis Colts president. Polian is a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist this year and six-time NFL executive of the year. He first established his reputation as an NFL architect with the Bills from 1984-93.He spent two seasons as Bills pro personnel director before being promoted to general manager. It was in this role that Polian built a star-studded, Marv Levy-coached and Jim Kelly-quarterbacked team that won four consecutive AFC championships — but lost all four Super Bowl appearances — and produced six Hall of Famers.Polian was fired after the 1993 season, and eventually spent four seasons as GM of the NFL-expansion Carolina Panthers before joining the Colts. Both of those franchises made the Super Bowl under Polian.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '