NEW YORK — Syracuse and Connecticut played a game for the ages last night and into early this morning. When it was over, everybody in Madison Square Garden was exhausted and, except for the losing team, exhilarated.

Telling someone that No. 18 Syracuse beat No. 3 Connecticut, 127-117, in six overtimes in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament is equivalent to saying there's a star in the sky.

There's more, so much more.

"I've got no words," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said when asked to describe the second-longest Division I game ever. "I've never been prouder of any team I've coached."

Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn had 34 points and 11 assists in a game-high 67 minutes, only 3 fewer than were played.

"I just wanted to get the game over with," he said. "I was thinking, 'Lord, just get this game over with. Whoever wins the game, let's just get it over with.' "

Much earlier in the evening, West Virginia beat No. 2 Pittsburgh, 74-60, meaning that instead of a much-anticipated third meeting between two teams that held the No. 1 ranking this season it will be sixth-seeded and 18th-ranked Syracuse against seventh-seeded West Virginia in one semifinal.

The game finished one overtime short of the record set in Cincinnati's 75-73 victory over Bradley on Dec. 21, 1981.

Paul Harris added 29 points and 22 rebounds, Eric Devendorf had 22 points and Andy Rautins had 20, all but two on 3-pointers, for Syracuse.

The Orange made 40 of 51 free throws, while Connecticut made just 24 of 42.

"We lost the game because we turned the ball over 27 times and couldn't make a foul shot," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said.

With the game tied at 71 with 1.1 seconds left, Devendorf let a shot go from about 28 feet just as the red lights around the backboard went off. It went in.

The play was reviewed — as are all shots near the end of halves — and veteran officials John Cahill and Bob Donato ruled the shot was late, sending the game into the first 5-minute overtime.

WEST VIRGINIA 74, NO. 2 PITTSBURGH 60

Freshman Devin Ebanks scored 20 points, helping the seventh-seed Mountaineers (23-10) upset the defending Big East tournament champion Panthers (27-4) and advance to the semifinals for the second straight season.

"We were outplayed," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "It's just one of those games where you have to do a better job. West Virginia is a very good team. They only lose to good people."

West Virginia got a big assist from DeJuan Blair, the league's co-player of the year, who spent most of the game on the bench for Pittsburgh. The big man managed only 14 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 1:17 left in the game.

NO 5 LOUISVILLE 73, PROVIDENCE 55

Earl Clark had 24 points and 10 rebounds, freshman center Samardo Samuels added 22 points, and the Cardinals (26-5) forced 26 turnovers in beating the Friars (19-13) to advance to today's semifinals against Villanova.

NO. 10 VILLANOVA 76, NO. 21 MARQUETTE 75

Dwayne Anderson's last-second layup fell in as the buzzer sounded — his only field goal of the game — as the Wildcats (26-6) blew a 17-point lead, but rallied to beat the Golden Eagles (24-9).

CONFERENCE USA

At Memphis, Tenn.

NO. 4 MEMPHIS 51, TULANE 41

Shawn Taggart scored 19 points, and the Tigers (29-3) held off the Green Wave (14-17) to extend the nation's longest winning streak to 23 straight and advance to today's semifinals against Houston, which beat UTEP, 89-95 in overtime. In the other semifinal, Alabama-Birmingham (22-10) beat Southern Miss, 74-73, and will play Tulsa, which beat Rice, 73-51.

BIG 12

AT OKLAHOMA CITY

OKLAHOMA STATE 71, NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 70

Byron Eaton had 16 points and seven assists, and James Anderson hit two free throws with 2.3 seconds left as the Cowboys (22-10) upset the Sooners (27-5) in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Oklahoma State will play No. 14 Missouri in today's semfinals.

BAYLOR 71, NO. 11 KANSAS 64

LaceDarius Dunn hit six 3-pointers en route to 24 points, and the Bears (19-13) blew a 17-point lead, but used a 12-0 run for a 65-58 lead with 3:41 left and never trailed again in upsetting the three-time defending champion Jayhawks (25-7). Baylor will play Texas, a 61-58 winner over Kansas State, in today's semifinals.

NO. 14 MISSOURI 81, TEXAS TECH 60

DeMarre Carroll scored 19 points, J.T. Tiller and Matt Lawrence each added 13 points, and the third-seeded Tigers (26-6) used second-half spurts of 13-0 and 10-0 to beat the Red Raiders (14-19).

PACIFIC 10

AT LOS ANGELES

NO. 13 WASHINGTON 85, STANFORD 73

Jon Brockman scored 20 points and the top-seeded Huskies (25-7) used a late surge to beat the Cardinal (18-13) and advance to today's Pacific 10 Conference semifinals against No. 23 Arizona State at the Staples Center. Southern California, which beat California, 79-75, will play UCLA, which beat Washington State, 64-53.

NO. 23 ARIZONA STATE 68, ARIZONA 56

Pac-10 player of the year James Harden had 27 points and eight rebounds to help Sun Devils (23-8) put the Wildcats (19-13) in jeopardy of reaching their 25th straight NCAA tournament, second only to the 27-year streak by North Carolina.

ATLANTIC COAST

AT ATLANTA

GEORGIA TECH 86, NO. 17 CLEMSON 81

Lewis Clinch scored 32 points and the last-place Yellow Jackets (12-18) pulled off the first upset of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament by beating the Tigers (23-8) to advance to today's quarterfinals against No. 22 Florida State.

ATLANTIC 10

At Atlantic City, N.J.

NO. 19 XAVIER 66, SAINT LOUIS 47

B.J. Raymond had 18 points, and C.J. Anderson added 15 as the top-seeded Musketeers (25-6) routed the Billikens (18-14) and will play Temple in today's semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. Temple (20-11) beat Saint Joseph's, 79-65.

MOUNTAIN WEST

AT LAS VEGAS

NO. 25 BYU 80, AIR FORCE 69

Jimmer Fredette scored 21 points, Jonathan Tavernari had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the top-seeded Cougars (25-6) held off the ninth-seeded Falcons (10-21) to advance to the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals against San Diego State, which beat UNLV, 71-57.

WAC

At Reno, Nev.

UTAH STATE 85, FRESNO STATE 68

Stavon Williams came off the bench to score 22 points on 6-of- 8 shooting from behind the arc and the top-seeded Aggies (28-4) made 13 3-pointers to rout the Bulldogs (13-21) and advance to the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament against New Mexico State.

NEW MEXICO STATE 80, BOISE STATE 70

Jonathan Gibson scored 22 points, and Jahmar Young and Hernst Laroche each had 16 to help the fifth-seeded Aggies (17-14) rally from an early 10-point deficit and beat the fourth-seeded Broncos (19-12).

NEVADA 78, SAN JOSE STATE 69

Freshman Luke Babbitt scored 11 of his 30 points in the first five minutes of the second half to lead the second-seeded Wolf Pack (20-11) past the seventh-seeded Spartans (13-17) and into tonight's semifinals against Louisiana Tech.

LOUISIANA TECH 70, IDAHO 62

Kyle Gibson had 23 points and the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (15-17) used a 9-0 run and went ahead for good 46-35 with 13:38 remaining in beating the third-seeded Vandals (16-15).