Orange outlast UConn
NEW YORK – Syracuse outlasted Connecticut in the second-longest Division I game ever played, capping a Big East tournament quarterfinal doubleheader in which the second- and third-ranked teams in the country both lost.
Andy Rautins hit a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the sixth overtime Thursday night, giving the Orange their first lead since regulation and they went on to a 127-117 victory over the third-ranked Huskies.
Much earlier in the evening, West Virginia beat No. 2 Pittsburgh 74-60, meaning that instead of a much-anticipated third meeting between two teams that held the No. 1 ranking this season in the semifinals it will be sixth-seeded and 18th-ranked Syracuse and the seventh-seeded Mountaineers.
The game finished one overtime short of the record set in Cincinnati’s 75-73 victory over Bradley on Dec. 21, 1981.
Top-seeded and fifth-ranked Louisville will meet fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Villanova in the other semifinal.
There were some staggering numbers besides the overtimes. The game started at 9:36 p.m. EDT and ended at 1:22 a.m.
Jonny Flynn had 34 points and 11 assists for the Orange (25-8), playing 67 of the 70 minutes, the most of any player. Paul Harris had 29 points and 22 rebounds, while Eric Devendorf had 22 points and Rautins had 20, all but two on 3-pointers.
A.J. Price had 33 points and 10 assists for the Huskies (27-4), while Stanley Robinson had 28 points and was one of three Connecticut players with 14 rebounds.
Hasheem Thabeet had 19 points, 14 rebounds and six of the Huskies’ 16 blocked shots.
“I have never been prouder of a team than I am tonight,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “They just kept fighting, … hanging in there and toughing it out and fighting.”
Wooden finalists named
Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Davidson’s Stephen Curry and Luke Harangody of Notre Dame are among the candidates for the John R. Wooden Award as college basketball’s player of the year.
Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and Maya Moore of Connecticut led the contenders for the women’s award.
The final ballots were announced Thursday.
Hansbrough, who leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 21.1 points per game, won the award last year. Curry leads the nation in scoring at 28.6 points, while Harangody is seventh with 23.7 points and fifth in rebounding at 12.1 per game.
Also on the ballot is Hansbrough’s teammate, Ty Lawson, along with Pittsburgh teammates DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, and Duke teammates Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler.
Along with eight seniors, Memphis guard Tyreke Evans was the only freshman selected as a finalist.
The others are A.J. Abrams of Texas, Jon Brockman of Washington, Nick Calathes of Florida, Sherron Collins of Kansas, UCLA’s Darren Collison, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, James Harden of Arizona State, Jordan Hill of Arizona, Kalin Lucas of Michigan State, Jerel McNeal of Marquette, Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest, Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut, Marcus Thornton of Louisiana State, and Terrence Williams of Louisville.
Voters for the men’s and women’s awards have until March 30 to cast ballots, allowing players to be considered through the later stages of the NCAA tournaments.
The awards will be presented April 10 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Rick Barnes of Texas will receive the Legends of Coaching award.