Syracuse upsets UConn in a Big East quarterfinal game for the ages

SCOTT JACOBS

It only took six!… overtimes for the Syracuse Orange to take down the UConn Huskies tonight in one of the wildest, longest, and most compelling games in the history of college basketball.  Just six.

127-117!

Syracuse never led in the first five OT’s– YES, FIRST FIVE OT’s– but in number six they dominated the exhausted Huskies 17-7 to advance to the semifinals of the Big East Championship.  Johnny Flynn had 34, to lead the Cuse in scoring, in one of the most entertaining battles college basketball has ever seen.  All in all the Orange had five guys in double figures, including Eric Devendorf who hit what appeared to briefly be a game winning three at the end of regulation.  But the ball appeared to still be in his hands as time expired and the refs reviewed it and waived it off.

So we went to overtime… and then a 2nd, and a 3rd, and a 4th, and a 5th, and hey, why not play a 6th if we’ve already played this much!  And it was survival of the fittest from there.  Eight players fouled out including Huskies center Hasheem Thabeet who had 19 points, 16 rebounds, and six blocks.  But it really came down to shot selection, and UConn’s shot selection was not exactly textbook in the waning moments.  Instead of taking it to the basket and creating something, the Huskies continually settled for pullup threes, and most of the time didn’t end up close.

There were 208 shots– I REPEAT 208 SHOTS– and it took almost every last one of them to crown a victor.  Believe it or not, it was tied for the second longest game.  The longest?  Happened in 1981 when Cincinnati and Bradley played seven OT’s, and the Bearcats beat the Braves 75-73.

As for this one: the game went to OT tied at 71, and it didn’t end until 102 more points were scored.  What seemed like a low scoring game ended in a Suns like shootout.  They usually play 40 minutes in the average college basktetball game.  Well, in Syracuse’s marathon win it took 30 more minutes.  Consider, they were two overtimes away from playing TWO complete games.

But that’s moot now, and unbelievably, Syracuse has to get up later today, and do it all again, when they play West Virginia at 9 p.m. est.  And don’t forget this: with UConn and Pitt both losing Louisville is all but assured a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Pitt’s loss to the Mountaineers hurt them, but SI.com’s Andy Glockner still believes that the Panthers will be on the top line when the brackets are announced.  North Carolina and UConn are his other two number ones.

But let’s take a minute to soak in this one.  UConn could not put away the Cuse, whether it was their 27 turnovers, or spotty three point shooting, and Syracuse stayed close long enough to outlast the Huskies in the end. To say this one was wild is an understatement.  UConn won every tip-off in every overtime, except the sixth, and scored first in overtime, except the sixth, and that was the one they ran out of gas.  The Orange looked like they were in trouble in a few of the overtimes, but made their foul shots, and capitalized on free throws that UConn missed.  They hit timely shots, and stayed in it, long enough to win it.

It was something special indeed.  Something you probably won’t see anytime soon.  This isn’t college football where 5 and 6 OT games happen every now and then.  This is college basketball where 3 OT’s is a marathon.

What’s six?

The Tour De France?

The NCAA: Where Amazing Happens!

Photo: Getty Images

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