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MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Rick Pitino switched from coach to lobbyist the moment his Louisville Cardinals won their third straight conference tournament title. Of course, Pitino thinks the defending national champs deserve a No. 1 seed, even if he knows they likely wont get one. Montrezl Harrell had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and fifth-ranked Louisville beat No. 21 Connecticut 71-61 Saturday for the inaugural American Athletic Conference title in the Cardinals lone season in the league. Pitino said hes extremely biased. "But Im very impressed with our guys," Pitino said. "What theyve done to win a regular season, conference tournament the way we have done it, in the fashion we have done it fits the eye test. I cant talk about the strength of the league. If you want to blame anybody, blame football. Dont blame us." The Cardinals (29-5) clinched their 40th NCAA tournament berth in style with their 19th overall tournament title. They took the last two in the Big East and added the American to go with their share of the regular-season title with Cincinnati. They will play next season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. "To win a regular-season championship and a tournament championship back to back is not easy. You have to have special players, and these two epitomize exactly that," Pitino said, praising Russ Smith and Harrell. Smith, named the tournaments most outstanding player, scored 19 points. He also had five steals to move into a tie for Louisvilles career record with 254. Chris Jones added 11 points. Smith said he thought a year ago that he had done almost everything a college athlete can, but he wanted to enjoy being a senior on campus and work on his game. Now he has another title to enjoy. "I have a lot of fun being at Louisville," Smith said. UConn (26-8) came in looking for an eighth tournament title to go with seven from the Big East. It was barred from post-season play a year ago, but is a virtual lock to return to the NCAA tournament this year. The Huskies left Memphis with a third loss this season to Louisville -- all by double digits. "Louisvilles playing great basketball," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "They won the championship last year, they went to the Final Four the year before. They got pretty much their whole team back, an experienced bunch, they play hard and well coached. But this tournament is wide open. Its a one-game elimination. Somebody can get hot, and hopefully that team will be us." Ollie also looked ahead to a conference that will be losing Louisville and Rutgers and adding teams like Tulsa. He said UConn plans to continue being at the top of the American. "This conference is going to be great," Ollie said. DeAndre Daniels led the Huskies with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Conference player of the year Shabazz Napier had 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting, and Amida Brimah finished with 14. UConn outscored Louisville 32-28 in the paint, but the Cardinals turned the Huskies 13 turnovers into 13 points. Louisville also outrebounded the Huskies 38-33 and enjoyed a 14-6 advantage on second-chance points. Louisville routed UConn 81-48 a week ago on the Cardinals home court. But the Huskies were a confident bunch heading into the final, coming off victories over No. 19 Memphis in the quarterfinals and No. 13 Cincinnati in the semis. The Cardinals grabbed an early lead and controlled the action for much of the game. Harrell scored 10 points in the first half and was a blur at times, blocking Brimah twice on one possession. He also swooped in for a dunk off a Smith assist that looked more like a layup that just missed the basket short. UConn stayed within six of the Cardinals down the stretch, but Louisville finished the half on a 10-2 run that included 3s by Terry Rozier and Luke Hancock. Smith also had a steal and a pass ahead to Rozier for a fast-break layup that gave the Cardinals their biggest lead yet at 37-23 going into the break. "We just didnt find our rhythm," Napier said. "They did play good defence. Once we got into the middle, guys had open shots, and we just couldnt knock them down." The Huskies tried to take advantage of Louisvilles shooting woes to open the second half. The Cardinals missed their first five shots, but Harrell had big three-point play for a 45-28 lead. Louisville went up by as much as 20 a couple times, the last at 52-32. Tony Oliva Jersey ." Argos general manager Jim Barker uttered those words during an interview with TSN 1050 radio just prior to the CFLs annual free agent frenzy. Ehire Adrianza Twins Jersey . I kept my eyes focused up on the camera during each approach. I just tried to stay focused on my form, as I didnt know what the ball reaction was. I was quite emotional at the end. I did not actually see any of the shots in the game until I got home and watched the video. https://www.cheaptwins.com/1052t-marwin-...ey-twins.html.Y. -- The "for sale" sign is up at the Buffalo Bills with the hiring of financial and legal advisers who may begin talking with prospective buyers within the next month. Taylor Rogers Jersey . You can watch all the action on TSN2 beginning at 7pm et/4pm pt. Pineda won his second straight start last Wednesday against Chicago, as he held the Cubs to just four hits over six scoreless innings to run his record to 2-0, while lowering his ERA to 1. Torii Hunter Twins Jersey . Ho-Sang is a highly regarded prospect, as seen in TSNs Midseason Rankings. This was Game 3 of their playoff series and that wasnt the only strange incident in Londons 10-2 win over Windsor.ATLANTA -- The Dodgers are getting solid performances out of their starting pitchers. Pretty good hitting, too. Dan Haren pitched six innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading Los Angeles to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night. It was the second night in a row the Dodgers got production out of the ninth spot in the order. The previous night, Kevin Correia had two hits and scored a run. "I was hoping I didnt get thrown out," Haren (10-9) quipped about his hit to right-centre field. "It takes me about eight seconds to get to first." After allowing a fourth-inning homer to B.J. Upton that put the Braves up 2-1, Haren reached base with one out in the fifth. Carl Crawford followed with a double, sending Haren to third, and the pitcher scored the tying run on Yasiel Puigs grounder to third. "Puig hit the ball and I wasnt sure if it was going to the pitcher," Haren said. "I just went!" Matt Kemp hit a little blooper to right that just got over the glove of second baseman Tommy La Stella, bringing home Crawford. That was enough for the Dodgers. Mike Minor (4-8) matched his longest outing of the past month after being skipped his previous turn in the rotation. The Atlanta lefty went 6 2-3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs. Kenley Jansen earned his 33rd save. The Braves lost for the 11th time in their last 13 games, including two straight to the Dodgers. With Los Angeles up 1-0, Upton drove his ninth homer of the season deep into left-field seats. It was his sixth career homer off the Dodgers right-hander; Upton has no more than three homers against anyone else. Minor came into the game with a 5.42 ERA, having surrendered nine hits, two homers and five runs in his most recent start Aug. 1, a 10-1 loss at San Diego. "I changed some things mechanically, with some of my grips. I thought my stuff was moving better," Minor said. "It was encouraging.dddddddddddd" The Dodgers padded their lead in the ninth without a hit. Braves shortstop Emilio Bonifacio botched an easy grounder, and Darwin Barney hustled all the way to second on the error. Barney moved to third on a groundout, and scored on David Hales wild pitch. TRAINERS ROOM Dodgers: 2B Dee Gordon didnt start because manager Don Mattingly wants to make sure the slender infielder doesnt get too worn down in the heat of summer. "Trying to keep him at 170 (pounds), basically," Mattingly said before the game. Gordon struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. Braves: SS Andrelton Simmons took grounders before the game and continues to show improvement from a sprained left ankle. But he missed his sixth straight game, with Bonifacio starting in his place. La Stella, who had to leave Mondays game in the second inning, was back in the lineup after his right hamstring cramped because of dehydration. UP NEXT Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-5) goes for his fifth straight win. Since July 13, he has allowed only seven earned runs in 33 innings (1.91 ERA) while limiting opposing hitters to a .198 average. He has 32 strikeouts and only four walks during his winning streak. Braves: Ervin Santana (11-6) will also be looking to stretch his winning streak to five in a row. He has worked at least six innings in his last 13 starts, and hasnt gone less than five innings in any start this season. YOU GOT IT, NO YOU GOT IT After the Braves tied the game in the third, Jason Heyward popped up right beside the batting circle for the apparent third out. But catcher A.J. Ellis backed off at the last second, apparently thinking first baseman Scott Van Slyke would take it. Van Slyke had stopped a few feet away, however. The ball fell in foul territory between the two players, who just stared at each other in disbelief. The miscue didnt hurt the Dodgers; Heyward flied out to left to end the inning. ' ' '