We had to get to the game between Syracuse and UConn in the Big East tournament last night. This game looked like Syracuse had won it, but when a last-second three was declared no good after video review, the game went to overtime. Six overtimes.

There were the numbers, from the 3 hours, 46 minutes it took to play the game that ended at 1:22 a.m., to the combined 244 points, 102 of which came after the regulation buzzer, to the eight players who fouled out, to the six who registered double-doubles.

And that wasn’t nearly all. Just ask Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn, who 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.’ “

I don’t understand why a game becomes epic just because it was longer. But that standard, when applied to highways, sub sandwiches, and male genitalia, seems to work just fine. Oh, Syracuse won, by the way. What did they win? A chance to play West Virginia tonight in the semifinal round. And maybe the admiration of their peers. Which is nice, but you can’t buy stuff with it.