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 3rd-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 their chances to win, especially on the final possession of regulation with the score tied. They also had plenty of times when they could’ve have 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 without its own leading scorer in Donnie Freeman and was right there up until the final horn.

So had Syracuse earned respect; a dreaded moral victory? Or had the Orange let one slip away?

“We let one get away, for sure,’’ George said.

Ever since he took over as Syracuse’s head coach, Adrian Autry had a vision for how he wanted the Orange to play. He preached the idea of an aggressive approach, a harassing defense, a team that would play with intensity.

For maybe the first time in his tenure, the Orange played the way Autry wanted.

“Our culture gave us a chance to win this game,’’ Autry said. “We came up short. No moral victories here, but, you know, we started to continually work hard, play at a Level 5, stay together, and keep pushing through.’’

The Orange’s effort made up for the absence of Freeman and more.

Syracuse didn’t shoot the ball well, making only eight out of 31 attempts from the 3-point line. The Orange’s awful free throw shooting – 12-for-29 at the line – should have precluded any ideas of an upset.

But Syracuse didn’t back down against Houston’s pressure defense, hung with the Cougars on the boards (the rebounds were 49-43 in favor of the Cougars) and forced Houston into a 36 percent shooting night from the field.

“I’m sure Coach Autry and his staff and the Syracuse kids are disappointed that they lost,’’ Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “They should be. But they should not be disappointed with their effort and how tough they played. They played good.’’

The Houston Cougars have earned a reputation for their intense, relentless defensive effort. Defense is the calling card of Sampson’s program. The Cougars came into Monday’s game ranked second in the country in points allowed at 53.4 per game.

Syracuse entered the ring ranked first – 53.2.

To keep from getting swamped by Houston’s defenders, Syracuse had to match the Cougars’ effort.

“It’s not even about matching that. It’s about what we do,’’ Autry said. “We feel like we’re one of the best defensive teams in the country, right? So it wasn’t about a comparing game. We just had a game-plan to play our game (and) to do what we need to do.’’

The halls in the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena are adorned with the promotion photos of the boxing matches that have been staged here. The faces of Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar de la Hoya and other legendary fighters stare at those who pass by.

At some point on Monday, Houston vs. Syracuse turned into prize-fight.

In the game’s second half, Houston hit Syracuse with offensive runs of 10-to-3 and 9-0. The latter gave Houston a 65-54 lead with 5 minutes left in regulation.

“We knew this was going to be a fight,’’ Autry said, “and we got ourselves off the ropes and we swung back.’’

In a huddle, George said the SU players reminded themselves what they had talked about before the game.

“We knew that they were going to fight (and) we were going to fight as well,’’ George said. “So just keeping our composure and just continuing to fight. That was the main message.’’

The Orange held Houston to just two points in the final five minutes. Tyler Betsey tied the game on a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining.

But on a final possession, George got the ball to SU center William Kyle down low. But Houston’s Joseph Tugler blocked Kyle’s shot to send the game into overtime.

That would prove to be Syracuse’s best chance to get the upset victory. The Orange never led in overtime.

Houston’s veteran guards; Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan, scored all of the Cougars’ points in overtime. The two finished with 26 points apiece.

Syracuse; now 4-1 on the season, walked out of the arena with a loss, but more hope for the future than any of its first four wins had offered.

“You know what I take and what these guys take is what we pride ourselves in,’’ Autry said. “It’s our culture. Our energy. Our connection. Our toughness. Our fight.

“That’s what we talk about,’’ he continued. “We work hard. It’s a hard-working program. I was just proud that these guys had a chance to actually see it and experience it, and they know that as we move forward, we’ll continue to get better.’’