The game that wouldn’t end

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What began as an ordinary Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal game ended as an extraordinary epic.

What started at 9:36 p.m. Thursday night, in New York City, ended at 1:22 a.m. Friday morning.

What was supposed to be two halves ended up six overtimes.

Syracuse, in the end, out No-Dozed Connecticut, 127-117, in what many are already calling of one the greatest games in college basketball history.

It left everyone at Madison Square Garden comfortably numb.

‘I can’t even feel my legs right now,’ Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn said after playing 67 out of a possible 70 minutes.

Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said afterward: ‘I’ve got no words to even try to describe it.’

Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe started regularly covering college basketball games in 1979 and was in Philadelphia the night in 1992 when Duke beat Kentucky, 104-103, in the East Regional Finals, on Christian Laettner‘s turnaround jump shot in overtime.

Blaudschun was also court side Thursday night, and Friday morning, for Syracuse-UConn.

Where did it rank?

‘Two,’ Blaudschun said.

He still considers Duke-Kentucky the best game he’s ever witnessed, but only because of the NCAA magnitude.

‘The stakes were higher,’ he said of the 1992 game. ‘But if this was a regional final, it would be No.1. It was ridiculous. This one was absurd.’

Blaudschun later spoke to Globe colleague Bob Ryan, who watched the final few overtimes at a sports bar in Atlanta, where Ryan was dispatched to cover the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Ryan told Blaudschun, at the end of the game, bar patrons stood up and applauded.

A few more facts about the game. Of the 244 total points, 102 were scored after regulation. Six players recorded ‘double doubles.’ Eight players fouled out.

Paul Harris, Syracuse’s 6-5 small forward, finished with 29 points and 22 rebounds. Nine players logged 45 minutes or more. Nine Syracuse players played a total of 352 minutes.

Syracuse attempted 103 shots; Connecticut attempted 106. For a complete rendering of this ridiculousness, check out the complete final game box.

Syracuse did not hold a lead after regulation until the sixth overtime. The Orange thought it had prevailed in regulation when Eric Devendorf made a 28-footer at the buzzer. But, after a review, the officials ruled Devendorf did not get the shot off in time.

Little did anyone know what that ruling (correct) meant.

Six overtimes later, Flynn couldn’t feel his legs.

Blaudschun of the Globe was typing so fast he couldn’t feel his fingers.

‘I was a stenographer, that’s what I was,’ he said.

His story made fourth edition..he thinks. The game ended so late he missed the last train back to Newark, where he was staying to save his company some money. The cab ride back cost him $80.

The New York Post filed an updated game story at 9: 42 a.m., Friday morning.

Syracuse won(?) the right to play West Virginia later Friday night in the Big East semifinals.

Flynn is hoping, by then, feeling has returned to his legs.

There were moments during the six overtimes when Flynn said he wondered whether victory was worth the physical and mental toll.

Flynn: ‘For a second, I’m thinking, Lord, let’s just get this game over, go home, whoever wins, wins the game. It was getting near that time.’’

--Chris Dufresne