updated 12:32 p.m. ET March 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - For all of its NBA-ready talent, all of its basketball pedigree, No. 1-seeded Connecticut never put together a complete game in the NCAA tournament.

Now, upset of upsets, UConn of the mighty Big East is heading home, and 11th-seeded George Mason from the Colonial Athletic Association is heading to Indianapolis for its first Final Four.

Hurt by the kind of lapses it had through its first three games at the Big Dance, two-time national champion Connecticut wasted a lead and a significant height advantage en route to a stunning 86-84 loss to George Mason in overtime at the Washington Regional final Sunday.

“This is definitely a team I thought could go all the way,” said Rudy Gay, who led UConn with 20 points, “and for us to fall like this, it hurts.”

So while the Patriots are the first No. 11 seed to reach the national semifinals since LSU in 1986, the Huskies will have a longer offseason than they ever would have expected.

“We didn’t dominate them the way we’re supposed to, didn’t do the things we’re capable of doing. We paid the price for it,” said UConn’s Denham Brown, who made a reverse layup to send the game to overtime but missed a 3-pointer as the final horn sounded.

“They’re trying to make history,” he added, “and knocking off Connecticut is a big deal.”

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This is, after all, a UConn team that was one of only two schools to be ranked No. 1 in the AP poll this season. A team that has three or four players sure to be headed to the NBA. A team that starts three players 6-foot-9 or taller, and can bring waves of big men in as reserves. George Mason, by contrast, has no one on the roster bigger than 6-8. Its best pro prospect? Jai Lewis, at 6-7 and 275 pounds, has drawn interest from NFL scouts for his potential as a tight end.

Still, Lewis and another 6-7 player, Will Thomas, combined for 39 points and 19 rebounds.

“They don’t measure heart by inches, they don’t measure courage,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. “They took advantage of what they have better than we took advantage of what we have.”

MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS Elite Eight games MINNEAPOLIS REGIONAL Florida 75, Villanova 62 WASHINGTON REGIONAL George Mason 86, Connecticut 84 ATLANTA REGIONAL LSU 70, Texas 60, overtime OAKLAND REGIONAL UCLA 50, Memphis 45

And that’s what counts, of course. Not his team’s 27-0 mark this season when leading at halftime, until Sunday. Or its 30-3 record coming in. Or its six NCAA round-of-eight appearances since 1995.

Or, for that matter, George Mason’s NCAA tournament record before this year: 0-3.

One key stat Sunday: George Mason outrebounded Connecticut 37-34.

“We did?” asked Patriots coach Jim Larranaga.

He had fired up his team by pointing out a newspaper story that said some of UConn’s players didn’t know what conference George Mason plays in.

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“That’s a little bit of disrespect,” Patriots guard Tony Skinn said. “Coach told us the ‘CAA’ stands for ‘Connecticut Assassin Association.”’

While Skinn waved his jersey over his head after the game, and his teammates jumped and hugged and yelled in celebration, UConn’s players were slumped over, some with hands on knees, others sitting on the court, heads bowed.

They spoke in whispers in the locker room.

Hard to believe? Definitely.

Somehow, down the stretch, it was UConn that played like the less experienced team, similar to its problems over the past few weeks. Missed free throws. Turnovers, including point guard Marcus Williams’ traveling violation on the first OT possession, and fouling a Mason player with 1 second on the shot clock.

“It was a matter of time for us to break out, but we just didn’t do it,” said Jeff Adrien, who scored a career-high 17 for UConn. “We haven’t been able to put teams away.”

The Huskies led by 12 late in the first half and 43-34 at the break. But George Mason kept chipping away, and it was UConn that needed to rally to force overtime. In the extra session, UConn went 2-for-8 from the field, while Mason was 5-for-6.

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It’s been that way all tournament for the Huskies.

They trailed No. 16 seed Albany by 12 in the first round. They edged eighth-seeded Kentucky. They needed Rashad Anderson’s 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to bail them out and force overtime against Washington.

No one could bail them out this time.

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