Kris Joseph did not want to play that extra five minutes. The sophomore forward had already played six overtimes last year against Connecticut. He had already been down that road.

But all of a sudden, that option became a distinct possibility. As UConn tied Wednesday night’s game at 65 with 2:53 remaining, Joseph couldn’t help but think about that magical March game. Here we go again. He just hoped that somehow the Orange could prevent that from transpiring.

‘No more overtimes. Let’s beat these guys in regulation,’ Joseph said. ‘We dealt with the six overtimes, that’s history. We only did it once, and we don’t want to do it again. We just wanted to win the game in regulation.’

Luckily for Joseph, the game ended after 40 minutes. And just like the March game, this one ended in another Syracuse victory over the Huskies.

Syracuse pulled out a last-minute win over Connecticut, 72-67, in front of 24,847 at the Carrier Dome Wednesday night. Syracuse (24-1, 11-1 Big East) blew a lead as large as 16 but hit seven free throws in the final 34 seconds to seal the game against a pesky Connecticut (14-10, 4-7 Big East) squad.

‘In the Big East, no lead is safe – you just gotta keep playing,’ sophomore guard Scoop Jardine said. ‘I give UConn a lot of credit because they played through it the whole time, they stuck in and made some great plays down the stretch. I’m just glad we gutted it out there and there were no overtimes.’

After trailing by as much as 16 in the second half, Connecticut chipped away at the lead with a 31-15 run supported by a bevy of shots from its electric guards, Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim also cited the departure of Andy Rautins – who committed his fourth foul with 14:25 left and Syracuse leading 48-34 – as a key point in the stretch. UConn went on a 17-6 run in his time on the bench.

The Huskies finally tied the score at 65 with 2:53 remaining on a 3-pointer by Dyson, who led all scorers with 19 points. Overtime No. 1 seemed on the horizon.

After missed jumpers by both squads, Syracuse held the ball with 46 seconds left before Andy Rautins missed a 3-point jumper with Dyson in his face. Rick Jackson, though, saved the day with an offensive rebound.

Scoop Jardine tried to go strong at the rim with plenty of time left, but Boeheim called a timeout that left Syracuse with the ball with 36.6 seconds left and 33 seconds on the shot clock.

But Syracuse wouldn’t even need one second to take the lead it never relinquished.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim had noticed that UConn’s small forward Stanley Robinson was holding the jersey of Wesley Johnson and told him to come around a screen to get the ball, with a foul possibly ensuing. Sure enough, the play went off without a hitch, as Robinson was whistled and Johnson went to the line where he hit the go-ahead free throws.

‘The way he was playing me I was coming off on a screen and he was grabbing my jersey so much that the refs called a foul,’ said Johnson, who had his right hand wrapped after the game as a result of a hard elbow. ‘Honestly, I was (waiting for the call). He was holding me from the jump, and he didn’t want me to get the ball.’

Connecticut had a chance to take the lead on a 3-pointer from left-center of the arch by Dyson, but he missed with 17 seconds remaining. Kris Joseph grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws to make the lead four. Walker zipped upcourt for a layup with eight seconds left, but it wouldn’t be enough.

On the inbounds pass, Johnson scorched the ball downcourt to a wide-open Kris Joseph, and the only option was for UConn’s Ater Majok to push Joseph away from the basket, resulting in a flagrant foul. Joseph hit both free throws, the Carrier Dome roared and the crisis was averted.

‘We haven’t been in a game where it’s been tied this late in the game,’ Boeheim said. ‘Wes making those two free throws obviously was big – we finally got one defensive rebound. I think the only one we got in the second half on Dyson’s miss, and Kris made his two free throws. You have to make those kind of plays to win games like this. I thought those four free throws were huge.’

Many of the key players from last year’s epic contest have departed, leaving a new crop of players to create a memorable game. This one won’t be played on ESPN Classic anytime soon or be up for any awards as game of the year. It ended in regulation.

Still, some players would’ve liked round No. 2.

‘I wouldn’t have minded,’ Jackson said. ‘ SportsCenter would have talked about it a little bit. It would have been nice to go to overtime to get that victory, (but) regulation is just always nice to close down.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on February 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm