Projo College Hoops

I tuned in for the final two minutes.

Or at least what I thought were going to be the final two minutes.

It turned out to be the final two hours.

I was checking scores on my computer just before going to bed shortly after 11 Thursday night and saw that UConn and Syracuse were tied with two minutes to go.

"May as well watch the end of that one," I thought, quickly turning on the TV.

I was still watching at 1:20 a.m., as the Orange and the Huskies battled into a sixth overtime.

And what was unbelievable about that was that, until Andy Rautins drained yet another of his long-range, NBA-distance, 3-pointers in the opening minute of what would be the final o.t., Syracuse had never led in any of the previous five extra periods.

That's right. Not once in the first five overtimes did the Orange have the lead.

But they ended up winning, 127-117, in a game that anyone who watched it, either on television or, most certainly, in person at Madison Square Garden, will always remember.

And, at least for me, part of what made it so great is that it didn't really mean anything.

I'm not a big fan -- or even a small fan, for that matter -- of conference tournaments. I've long felt that, in the big picture, more bad things than good ones happen in these made-for-TV -- and to make money -- postseason parties.

Every year, a couple of teams that really don't belong in the NCAA tournament win their conference tourney, thus bursting the "bubble" of better, at-large teams more deserving of a bid. Every year, in the smaller conferences, a team or two that dominated its league during the regular season is upset in its conference tournament and doesn't get invited to the Big Dance. Every year, powerful teams from the power conferences -- the Big East, the ACC, the SEC, the Big 12, the Pac-10, the Big 10 -- engage in physically-bruising, emotionally-draining battles against their archrivals and can't bounce back in time to be ready for the opening rounds of the NCAA tourney a few days later, and so never make it to the Sweet 16, or, sometimes, even out of the first round.

Seedings, too, can be affected. Pittsburgh, which everyone had been talking about as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, lost to West Virginia in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. Can the NCAA Selection Committee still make the Panthers, who finished tied for second in the conference in the regular season and couldn't make the semifinals of the Big East tournament, a No. 1 seed?

The same is true for UConn, which also had been mentioned as a possible No. 1 seed. The Huskies finished tied for second in the regular season, behind Louisville, lost twice to Pitt, and then failed to reach the semis of the conference tourney when they were stunned by the Orange in last night's memorable, unforgettable, marathon of a game. How can they possible be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament when they couldn't make the final four of their conference tourney?

All that said, the Huskies and Orange battled each other as if they were playing for the national championship, rather than a spot in the conference semis.

Speaking of which, is there any way that Syracuse can return to Madison Square Garden tonight and beat a fired-up West Virginia team coming off an upset of Pitt? The Orange went with seven players most of the game, until foul trouble forced coach Jim Boeheim to bring guys off the bench in overtime who played only in "garbage time" during the regular season.

Lest we forget, Syracuse, unlike UConn, which had a bye, played Wednesday, beating Seton Hall, 89-74. Star guard Jonny Flynn played 67 of the 70 minutes against the Huskies, scoring a game-high 34 points (one more than UConn's A.J. Price), and sinking all 16 of his free-throw attempts. That's right -- 16-for-16. Paul Harris also was near-perfect from the foul line, making 13-of-14. Together, they were an incredible 29-for-30. Harris, who played 56 minutes, scored 29 points and, even more impressively, pulled down 22 rebounds. Guard Eric Devendorf played 61 minutes and scored 22 points.

It appeared as if Devendorf had won the game in regulation, when he caught a tipped pass thrown from the far baseline and hit nothing but net with a trey from the right sideline. But, after studying the replays, the officials ruled -- correctly -- that time had expired a split-second before the ball was off his fingertips.

That certainly could have demoralized the Orange, who leaped around the floor in celebration when Devendorf hit that shot. Instead, they came back out on the floor even more determined to win.

So the game went in overtime. And then a second. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. And, finally a sixth, before the Orange finally won.

"We kept saying," Flynn said afterwards, "we fought this long, we can't give this game away now."

It's a tribute to both the Orange and the Huskies that they would play so hard for a game that, in the great scheme of things, meant so little, because they both were already "locks" for the NCAA tourney.

It may be that, as much as the shots and rebounds and defensive tenacity, even more than the last-second shots that went in, as well as those that didn't, that will make this game one of the greatest in hoops history.
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