RALEIGH, N.C. — Stephen Curry looked tired. His soft, feathery shot was clanging off the rim. The slender, baby-faced sophomore seemed to be just another in a long line of stars bottled up by Georgetown's ferocious defense.

Davidson's run was certainly over. A good season was coming to a fitting end against one of college basketball's elite programs.

Then, as quick as Curry can get off a turnaround 3-pointer, the Wildcats staged a comeback.

Curry scored 25 of his 30 points in the second half and little Davidson rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to stun No. 2 seed Georgetown, 74-70, yesterday, sending the Wildcats to an improbable spot in the round of 16.

Davidson (28-6), which hadn't won an NCAA tournament game in 39 years before Friday, will face No. 3 seed Wisconsin in the Midwest Regional in Detroit.

"I'm numb right now," coach Bob McKillop said.

So is Georgetown (28-6), which was shooting 71 percent from the field early in the second half, had forced Curry to miss 10 of his first 12 shots and was in total command in its quest to make the Final Four for the second straight year.

But despite 14 points from Jessie Sapp, 12 from Jonathan Wallace and 63 percent shooting, Georgetown was undone by 20 turnovers — and Curry's brilliance.

The son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry took over, fueled by a partisan crowd just 160 miles from campus.

"I remember being in the huddle. I forget what timeout it was, but we were down 16," said Jason Richards, who had 20 points for the Wildcats. "And coach is asking us if we're having fun. We got smiling a little bit and we got our focus off where we were and we came out and got some great stops.

"And this kid started getting on fire again, like he did the other day, and when that happens, it's tough to stop him."

Curry scored 30 of his 40 points in the second half of Davidson's comeback win over Gonzaga in the first round, and put together a fitting encore against the Hoyas. Only this time he did it against the nation's stingiest defense. Georgetown came in allowing only 57.6 points per game and 37 percent shooting.

After his awful start, Curry hit six of his last nine shots. He made five of six free throws in the final 23 seconds.

"For the most part he had guys all over him and the ball was going in," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said.

VILLANOVA 84, SIENA 72

TAMPA, Fla. — The hardest part for Villanova was getting into the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats have always known they have what it takes to stick around for a while.

Scottie Reynolds scored 25 points and Corey Stokes added 20, helping the 12th-seeded Wildcats reach the round of 16 for the third time in four years with a victory over Siena.

Villanova (22-12), one of the last teams picked for the tournament field, advanced to the Midwest Region semifinals in Detroit, where it will revert to an underdog role against top-seeded Kansas (33-3).

And the way the Jayhawks have been playing, the Wildcats can only hope to take some of Tampa's upset mystique with them to Motown.

"They have had a terrific year. They're playing really well right now," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We're going to enjoy this win, go back home, and just get back to work."

The Wildcats rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat fifth-seeded Clemson in the opening round. Yesterday's win, their fifth in six games, gave Upset City — as Tampa was dubbed after its first-day shockers — a sense of normalcy.

The tournament pod here had four lower seeds win opening-round games for the first time in NCAA history. Villanova ended the streak, eliminating the 13th-seeded Saints (23-11) with a fast start and superior play at just about every position.

"I think we all know now the seeding doesn't mean anything," Wright said.