As Jabril Trawick’s half-court shot — a 3-pointer that would have forced double overtime and extend one of college basketball’s greatest rivalries a little longer — arced across the Garden ceiling last night, would anyone have been shocked if the basketball Gods froze the ball in mid flight?
Anyone that knows college basketball knows Georgetown-Syracuse was sacred. It should have been inviolate. Your children and your children’s children should have been able to come to the Garden each March and watch the blood, sweat and tears flow.
“It’s Syracuse,’’ Big East Player of the Year Otto Porter Jr. said. “Anybody from Georgetown will tell you that they don’t like them. It’s the best rivalry in college basketball.’’
And now it’s over. It took 45 minutes instead of 40, it took Trawick’s shot, which every person on the Georgetown bench was certain was going in, to miss before John Thompson III and Jim Boeheim shook hands at center court for possibly the last time.
Syracuse, in its last season in the Big East Conference, has a chance to win one more tournament title — its fifth — after outlasting the Hoyas 58-55 in overtime. The fifth-seeded Orange will face second-seeded Louisville in what likely will be the most anti-climactic championship game in league history.
“From Day 1 the first year, it was huge,’’ Boeheim said. “We’ve had other rivalries and other great games in this league. But there’s something about Syracuse and Georgetown.”
Syracuse and Georgetown played each other 14 times in this tournament with each winning seven times. The Orange (26-8) own the all-time record, 49-41, but Georgetown (25-6) won the last game in Manley Fieldhouse and its last game in the Carrier Dome.
So when the Orange surged to a 27-17 first-half lead on the strength of some red-hot 3-point shooting and still held a 43-32 lead with just under 12 minutes to play, the buzz in the Garden grew more electric. This was Georgetown-Syracuse. For the last time, the final bragging rights. The last chapter.
This rivalry would not go quietly into the night. Markel Starks heated up. Michael Carter-Williams wore down, committing three of his six turnovers in the final minutes and overtime.
The fans — all 20,057 — rose and yelled and cheered and screamed and covered their eyes and crossed their fingers. With 7.7 seconds left, Porter went to the foul line for a 1-and-1 trailing by two.
He must have know there was no pressure, must have known this rivalry was going to overtime because he converted both free throws without a single bead of sweat on his forehead. Carter-Williams missed an off-balance jumper and the rivalry would live for five more minutes.
“Fitting that it went into overtime? Yeah, it is. It’s a shame that they’re heading down to Tobacco Road for a few dollars more,” said Thompson, referencing Syracuse’s move to the ACC next season.
If you were lucky enough to be in the building, if you were riveted by what you saw on television, you had to think, “More dollars; no sense.”
In the overtime, Syracuse’s defense was better than Georgetown’s. They held the Hoyas to 1-of-6 shooting and forced Porter to throw a crosscourt pass that C.J. Fair intercepted in the closing seconds.
Fair could have stuck a dagger in this rivalry, killed it like a vampire. But he missed both foul shots with 3.2 seconds left. Nate Lubick threw an outlet pass to Trawick, who took a couple of dribbles and launched the last shot in this rivalry.
“I think we all kind of saw this coming,’’ said Syracuse’s James Southerland of Bayside. Why smarter minds didn’t stop it from ending will remain one of college basketball’s great shames.
BIG EAST TIP-INS
STARS OF THE DAY
* Senior point guard Brandon Triche was the steady hand behind Syracuse’s 58-55 overtime victory over Georgetown, scoring 13 points and committing zero turnovers.
Brooklyn native Russ Smith scored 20 points in Louisville’s 69-57 victory over Notre Dame, giving him 48 points in the Cardinals’ first two tournament games.
STAT OF THE DAY
Georgetown struggled from the free-throw line, shooting just 55 percent (11-of-20), considerably lower than the 69 percent the Hoyas were shooting on the season.
QUOTABLE
“From Day 1, the first year, it was huge. We’ve had other rivalries and other great games in this league. But there’s something about Syracuse and Georgetown.”
— Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim reflecting on his time coaching in the Big East.
lenn.robbins@nypost.com