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When it comes to the longest college basketball games ever, time just seems to slow to a stop. While a normal college basketball game is just two 20-minute halves, it's not unusual for a five-minute overtime or two to be needed to break a tie score. But as overtimes pile up, history can get made. At four overtimes, the teams have essentially played a traditional game and a half of a second game.
Yet many games carry on even beyond four overtimes. A deep dive in the NCAA record book reveals many epic games that went well beyond a normal game's length. Here are the stories of the longest college basketball games ever: the games with the most overtimes.
5 longest games in college basketball history
#5, (tie) Numerous 5 OT games, especially including 2013 Notre Dame/Louisville
While there's not a precise count of five-overtime games, there are many. But the best was probably the 2013 matchup between No. 11 Louisville and No. 25 Notre Dame. A pair of ranked teams in a conference matchup put some extra intensity on the line in this crazy game.
Louisville was cruising to a win, leading 56-48 with 51 seconds to go in regulation. But Notre Dame rallied to tie the game and commence a series of overtimes. The game featured a total of 97 free throws between the two teams.
Notre Dame rallied to a three-point edge in the fifth overtime and won 104-101 when a Russ Smith 3-pointer to tie missed at the buzzer. But while Notre Dame won the game, Louisville won the national championship two months later.
2, (tie) Niagra/Siena, 1953 (6 OT)
It's surprising that more games didn't go into massive numbers of overtimes before college basketball incorporated a shot clock. Of the four longest NCAA games ever, three came before the introduction of the shot clock in 1985.
One of those was the 1953 tilt between Niagara and Siena. Niagara was a power, having just dropped out of the AP Top 25 before the game. But the game at Siena, which was 10-11 on the season, stayed too close to finish. Niagara star Larry Costello, who went on to be a Pro Basketball Hall of Famer, was the difference in Niagara's 88-81 6 OT win.
2, (tie) Minnesota/Purdue, 1955, 6 OT
Anything worth doing was worth repeating, or at least that's the theory behind the second six-OT game in just three seasons, this time in 1955 with Minnesota edging out Purdue.
The game featured a pre-shot-clock mentality. In each of the first three overtimes, Purdue won the jump ball and held the ball for the entire overtime, taking and missing a shot at the end of the first three overtimes. Minnesota won the jump ball for the fourth overtime, only to use the same strategy, with the same result. Finally, in the sixth overtime, Purdue scored three points, but Minnesota rallied to win 59-56.
#2, (tie) Syracuse/UConn, 2009, 6 OT
Unlike the other games on this list, the Syracuse/UConn game was played in a conference tournament. In fact, it came on the opening day of the 2009 Big East Tournament. Syracuse finally secured a 127-117 victory in this sixth overtime.
The game took three hours and 46 minutes, ending at 1:22 a.m., the morning after it began. Although the No. 3 Huskies fell to the No. 18 Orangemen, UConn rebounded with a run to the Final Four.
#1, Cincinnati/Bradley, 1981, 7 OT
The longest college basketball game ever took place just before Christmas 1981, as a 6-1 Cincinnati squad outlasted a 5-2 Bradley team coached by future NBA coach Dick Versace. Bradley's Donald Reese and Cincy's Bobby Austin set a joint record, each playing 73 minutes in the game.
The two teams were tied at 61-61 at the end of regulation, but without a shot clock, the pace in overtime play dragged to a crawl. Cincinnati reserve Doug Schloemer made a jump shot with one second left in the seventh overtime to finally end the game. If not, Cincinnati and Bradley might still be playing.
