Las Vegas – Naithan George stood in a hallway of the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena with his back against the wall and a look of both exhaustion and disappointment on his face.

The Syracuse Orange had just pushed the third-ranked Houston Cougars to the brink of the biggest upset in college basketball so far this season before dropping a 78-74 decision in overtime here at the Players Era Festival.

The Orange had its chances to win, especially on the final possession of regulation with the score tied. It also had plenty of times when it could’ve folded, especially when down by 11 points with five minutes left in regulation.

Syracuse had fought, had shown more grit than any SU team in a long time, had played a team with three potential first-round picks in next year’s NBA draft while playing wit

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