University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Syracuse
Orange Outlast Huskies in Six-OT Thriller
3/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 13, 2009
NEW YORK -Jonny Flynn scored 34 points and Paul Harris added 29 points and grabbed 22 rebounds as sixth-seeded Syracuse defeated third-seeded Connecticut, 127-117 in six overtimes. The BIG EAST Men's Basketball Championship Quarterfinal Round game on Thursday evening was played before a crowd of 19,375 at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies are now 27-4 while the Orange improve to 25-8. The game is the longest in BIG EAST history and is tied for the second-longest contest in known Division I college basketball history at three hours and 46 minutes.
UConn forced the initial overtime with 1.1 seconds remaining on a follow up lay-up by freshman guard Kemba Walker (Bronx, N.Y.). The Orange's Eric Devendorf connected on a three-pointer as time was expiring, but his shot was reviewed by the officials and determined to have come after the buzzer had sounded.
The Huskies were led in scoring by senior guard A.J. Price (Amityville, N.Y.), who scored 33 points and added 10 assists, matching his career high. Junior forward Stanley Robinson (Birmingham, Ala.) had 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He was one of five Huskies to record double figures in rebounds and four Huskies registered double-doubles.
Connecticut did not trail in any overtime until the final one and led by as many as six points on several occasions in the extra sessions. The Huskies had a final chance to win the game at the end of the fifth overtime when Price missed a three-pointer and Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) missed a follow shot at the buzzer.
The Huskies quickly fell behind in the sixth overtime on a three-pointer by Andy Rautins and Harris followed with seven-straight points and the Huskies never recovered.
Center Hasheem Thabeet (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) had 19 points, 14 rebounds and he had six of Connecticut's 16 blocked shots. The 16 rejections represented a BIG EAST Tournament record for one team. Adrien also had a double-double (his 12th of the season and 45th of his career) with 12 points and 14 rebounds. He added six assists, which is a career-high for Adrien.
Walker finished with eight points and a career-best 11 rebounds. Junior Gavin Edwards (Gilbert, Ariz.) scored four points and grabbed 10 rebounds, the most he has grabbed since snaring 12 against Gonzaga on December 20.
The 117 points scored was the first time the Huskies scored 100 points in a game since December 22 of last season when they scored 105 against Maine. The 127 points scored by Syracuse represents the most points ever allowed by Connecticut in the sport of men's basketball.
The Huskies had trouble taking care of the ball against the Orange, committing a season-high 27 turnovers, but they did grab an astounding 76 rebounds, including 36 on the offensive glass. Connecticut committed 36 fouls and four players fouled out (Robinson, Thabeet, Edwards and Price).
The Orange made 40-of-51 from the foul line as Flynn was a perfect 16-for-16 and Harris made 13-of-14 charity offerings.
The Huskies will now await an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship which will be announced on Sunday.
