Syracuse and 6 overtimes

Okay, so did anyone see the 6 overtime game between Syracuse and UCONN?

I went to the Big East tournament from 1992 through 1999. It is in Madison Square Garden in NYC so the atmosphere needs no drama to make it exciting.
Every year, however, the games seem to get more exciting, and as my father said, always come down to the wire. Here is a great article about this game:

Syracuse beats UConn in historic 6-overtime thriller
8:37 AM Fri, Mar 13, 2009 | Permalink
Mike McDermott Email | Email this entry

By Pete Thamel
The New York Times

NEW YORK - It was a game that appeared finished, but never really wanted to end. And after nearly four hours, six overtimes and countless records, Big East rivals Syracuse and Connecticut played a game whose legacy will resonate in college basketball lore.

The Orange defeated Connecticut, 127-117, in six overtimes Thursday night at Madison Square Garden to advance to the semifinals of the Big East tournament. They finished 10 minutes short of completing two whole games.

It was the longest game in Big East history and tied for the second-longest game in NCAA Division I history.

By the end at 1:22 a.m., 3 hours and 46 minutes had elapsed since tip-off. Jonny Flynn played 67 minutes, there were 66 fouls in the game and won the game Orange had walk-on Justin Thomas on the floor. Flynn led the Orange with 31 points.

Oddly, after a game defined by even play and parity, the Orange rolled in the sixth overtime. Andy Rautins curled off a screen for a 3-pointer on the first possession of the sixth overtime and the Orange cruised from there.

And all of those superlatives and hyperbole may have best been summed by Flynn, the Syracuse point guard.

At the end of the fifth overtime, he was too tired to return to the Syracuse bench. He sat down on the press table in front of a few reporters.

"One of these games," he said, flashing his trademark smile and shaking his head in disbelief. "This is crazy."

Five periods earlier, guard Eric Devendorf leaped up on the scorer's table, pumped his fist violently into the air after swishing an improbable 3-point shot at the end of regulation.

But Devendorf's reaction turned out to be a case of premature celebration, as officials waved off the shot after reviewing the replay. It also turned out to be just the beginning of the drama in a six-overtime classic, as Syracuse won a battle of attrition.

Syracuse (25-8), the tournament's sixth seed, will play West Virginia on Friday at 9 p.m.
As midnight passed and then 1 a.m., players fouled out and tugged at their shorts in exhaustion, the bands kept playing and the overtimes toppled one upon another. The most recent six-overtime game in Division I was Minnesota's 59-56 victory against Purdue in 1955.

This game, which ended at 1:22 a.m., will long reverberate in Big East lore. It was the only the second tournament game to reach triple overtime, after the 1981 final between Syracuse and Villanova. Syracuse's Leo Rautins won that game on a tip-in. His son Andy did him one better Thursday by hitting an N.B.A.-range 3-pointer to force the fourth overtime.

Paul Harris had 29 for Syracuse. UConn's A.J. Price led all scorers with 33 points and Stanley Robinson had 28.

It was a taxing night for potential No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, as Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and finally Connecticut (24-9) were eliminated from their conference tournaments on Thursday.

At the end of regulation, Connecticut's Kemba Walker flipped in a putback with 1.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 71-71. That set up Devendorf's shot. Paul Harris tried a long inbound pass to Kristof Ongenaet, but the ball was tipped to Devendorf, who calmly swished the shot from the right wing and then celebrated as if he had won the lottery. His leap onto the scorer's table only perpetuated his image as one of the league's most divisive players.

After a review that lasted a few minutes, the Huskies jumped around as if they had won the game. But in a sense it had barely begun.

In the first overtime, the Orange needed a drive and dish from Jonny Flynn to Rick Jackson for a slam with 4.7 seconds remaining to tie the game and force a second overtime.

In that overtime, Syracuse had the ball with the score tied, but Flynn's 17-foot pull-up jumper came up short on the front rim. Walker missed a potential winning shot as time expired.

Connecticut jumped out to six-point lead in the second overtime with a tip-in by Jeff Adrian. But in a game lathered in drama, the Huskies let Syracuse in with a flurry of turnovers and missed free throws. The Huskies missed three of four free throws to keep their lead at three and Rautins hit his long 3-pointer to make it 98-98.