TWO FOR THE SHOW

It was a game with a message, delivered by a weeping coach, dancing players, and red-eyed fans who hugged late into the desert afternoon.

There are different kinds of fairy tales.

You don’t need to be Gonzaga to star in one.

With stifling defense and a heart as big as Jim Calhoun, Connecticut spun its own touching tale Saturday with a 67-62 victory over Gonzaga in the NCAA West Regional final.

Oh, don’t be so sad.

Midnight for one team is daybreak for another.

Like Gonzaga, Connecticut has never been to a Final Four.

Like Gonzaga would have done, Connecticut treated the victory like a gift.

Calhoun, the coach criticized for his inability to reach the Final Four in his 12 previous tournament appearances, wept.

“For Jim, this is that dream, that pot of gold, that affirmation,” said his wife, Pat. “This is that gold star on your forehead.”

Richard Hamilton, the regional most valuable player who dominated with 21 points and great defense on Gonzaga’s shooters, sobbed into the nylon strings around his neck.

“I cannot explain what I did today,” he said.

Khalid El-Amin, stunned that his team won even though he missed all of his 12 shots, ran into the stands to hug his parents.

“Even since [practice started], there have been questions about if we’d get to the Final Four,” he said. “We just wouldn’t allow ourselves to lose.”

That’s what Gonzaga thought, right up until the Bulldogs missed two layups during a 28-second possession while trailing by three in the final moments.

Only after that, when Connecticut’s Kevin Freeman made two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining to cement the outcome, did they believe.

“Only then, only with those six seconds left,” said Casey Calvary, Thursday’s last-second hero against Florida. “Before that, I thought we were going to win.”

The unranked and 10th-seeded Bulldogs (28-7) staggered off the court. Once in their locker room, they collapsed around each other in tears, only different from those by Connecticut.

“We wish them luck in the Final Four . . . but I wish we were there,” said guard Mike Nilson, pausing during the interview to sob into a towel. “I’m not crying because we lost. I’m crying because it’s over.”

It nearly wasn’t. With most of 18,053 fans at America West Arena roaring for Gonzaga, it tied the score for the last time, 55-55, with 5:59 remaining.

The Huskies (32-2) had never led by more than six. With El-Amin struggling and Hamilton tiring, they suddenly looked very beatable.

Then Connecticut big men Freeman and Jake Voskuhl looked at each other and nodded, and the meaning was clear.

The Gonzaga shooters had been stopped--Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm combined to go three for 20.

Now it was time for the inside guys to finish the job.

“I gave him this look, and he looked back, and we both knew,” Voskuhl said.

Freeman scored after being fouled inside. Edmund Saunders scored on a layup. Voskuhl scored on a tip-in.

Ten of Connecticut’s final 12 points were scored on either tip-ins or free throws after fouls on inside shots.

For the first time in this tournament, swaggering little Gonzaga was overwhelmed.

When Quentin Hall made a running three-point shot with 36.6 seconds remaining to pull Gonzaga to within 63-62, it seemed like the magic was still there.

But Connecticut produced that elixir known as hard work.

El-Amin was fouled and made both free throws: “All those shots before practice paid off,” he said.

Then, for 28 breathtaking seconds, the Huskies’ swarming man-to-man defense stopped the previously charmed Gonzaga offense.

Santangelo penetrated, threw a wild pass that Hall saved with a flying leap over the midcourt line.

Frahm drove the lane, threw up a wild four-footer, the ball bounced out of bounds off Connecticut.

Santangelo drove the lane again, threw up another wild layup that bounced away.

Freeman grabbed one of his 15 rebounds and was fouled, and that was that.

“They just beat the best team in the tournament,” Calvary said.

While Gonzaga will be remembered as much for its brashness as its wins over Minnesota, Stanford and Florida, the Bulldogs are leaving a tournament full of believers.

“We’ve beaten a lot of good teams . . . but I’m not sure we’ve had to work harder for a victory all year,” Calhoun said.

As exhausted and emotional as his team appeared afterward, nobody would argue.

But late Saturday afternoon, between ice bags and sighs, Connecticut’s players strained to look across a crowded locker room to a TV showing the South Regional final that would determine next Saturday’s opponent. It was a game eventually won by Ohio State over St. John’s.

“What’s the score? What’s the score? I can’t see,” shouted El-Amin, who then turned to his questioner and shrugged.

“This is nice, you know,” he said, “but we’re just getting started.”