There have already been two overtimes this season, with Northwestern needing an additional five minutes to defeat Florida Atlantic 77-65 on Friday and Creighton defeating Oregon 86-73 in double overtime the following day.These games, however, are insignificant in contrast to the most memorable overtime matches in the history of the NCAA Tournament, where the winner was decided in two out of the four games.
Four overtime periods were played in two March Madness games.The first took place in Madison Square Garden in New York City during the first round of the 1956 NCAA Tournament between Canisius and NC State.After regulation play ended with a score of 65–65, each team scored six points in the first two overtime periods. In order to avoid needing a second five-minute overtime, the Wolfpack and Golden Griffins were unable to score in the third overtime. The game lasted sixty minutes, and Canisius won 79-78. The Golden Griffins were led by 29 points from Hank Nowak.
