Washington, DC (Basketball News) - Jai Lewis scored 20 points and Will Thomas added 19, as George Mason survived a Connecticut rally in both regulation and overtime to pull out a stunning 86-84 victory in the Washington, DC regional final of the NCAA Tournament.
George Mason (27-7) became the first team from the Colonial Athletic Association to reach the Final Four and the first 11th seed to make it that far since LSU in 1986. The Patriots will play the winner between Villanova and Florida next Saturday in Indianapolis.
Rudy Gay scored 20 points for top-seeded Connecticut (30-4), which couldn’t pull out yet another miracle finish after rallying from double-digits to beat Washington in overtime in Friday’s regional semifinal.
The Huskies were again staring elimination in the face, down 74-70 with 17.6 seconds to play in regulation after Lamar Butler converted both ends of a one- and-one for George Mason, but Marcus Williams drove the lane and scored with 7.9 seconds left.
UConn fouled on the inbound and Tony Skinn, an 81 percent free throw shooter, missed the front end of the one-and-one. Gay grabbed the rebound and quickly got it to Williams, who sent it ahead to Denham Brown. The senior drove the left side of baseline and his reverse layup bounced off the rim three times before falling through with no time on the clock to tie it.
The teams traded buckets to start the overtime period until Gay missed a three-point try with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Thomas followed with a jump-hook to give the Patriots an 82-78 edge with 2:10 left.
After Brown made two free throws for UConn, Folarin Campbell hit a tough fadeaway jumper with 1:12 remaining. Rashad Anderson then air-balled a three- point try and Lewis made one free throw with 41 seconds left to give George Mason an 85-80 edge.
Jeff Adrien hit one free throw for Connecticut and Thomas made one more from the stripe for the Patriots before Williams buried a long three-pointer to pull the Huskies within 86-84 with 10.1 seconds to play.
Lewis went to the line with 6.1 seconds remaining and missed both shots, giving the Huskies one last chance. Brown had a good look at a three-pointer from the left wing, but the shot bounced off the rim as time expired.
Adrien finished with 17 points. Brown had 11 points and Williams contributed 13 points with 11 assists for the Huskies, who never really found their groove in the postseason.
After losing an overtime game to Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, the Huskies trailed Albany by 12 late before pulling out their NCAA Tournament opener. They edged Kentucky in the second round, then needed a late rally to beat Washington in overtime on Friday.
George Mason, meanwhile, has now upset three teams from power conferences to become the first team from a mid-major conference to reach the Final Four since Larry Bird led Indiana State to the championship game in 1979. The Patriots beat Michigan State and defending national champion North Carolina in the first two rounds, then knocked off Wichita State in Friday’s regional semifinal.
UConn led this one by nine at the break, but George Mason used an 8-0 run early in the second half to pull within 47-46 and tied it at 49-49 with 12 1/2 minutes to play in regulation on a three-pointer by Campbell.
The lead see-sawed back and forth over the next three minutes and a jump-hook in the lane by Lewis gave George Mason a 64-63 lead with just under six minutes to play. Skinn followed with a three-pointer to put the Patriots ahead by four with five minutes remaining.
George Mason could not put the Huskies away, still leading by four with 1:02 left. Williams turned the ball over for UConn, but Adrien came up with a big block and the Huskies went the other way with Williams converting a three- point play to make it a 71-70 game with 47.1 seconds to play.
Lewis and Butler managed to make three free throws to extend the lead to four, setting up the final frantic seconds of regulation.
Butler scored 19 points, while Campbell added 15 and Skinn finished with 10. The Patriots got only three points from their bench, as the five starters played the final 10 1/2 minutes of regulation and all five minutes of overtime.
George Mason rallied from an eight-point deficit midway through the first half and pulled even at 21-21 on a three-pointer by Skinn with 6:45 to play before the break.
The Patriots then grabbed their first lead at 29-28 on a pair of free throws by Thomas just over three minutes later, but Gay answered with a three-pointer from the left wing and came up with a steal that led to another three by Williams as Connecticut closed the half with a 15-5 run.
After Campbell converted both ends of a one-and-one for George Mason, Ed Nelson completed a three-point play and Brown drained a three-pointer with just over a minute left to give the Huskies a 40-31 edge. Another shot from beyond the arc by Anderson made it a 12-point game, but a three-point play by Campbell sent the Patriots into the locker room down 43-34.
The Huskies pulled away late in the first half by hitting their last five three-pointers after starting 0-for-4. They shot 57 percent overall from the field, led by Adrien’s 5-for-5 effort for 10 points.
