How long is a basketball game in college

How long is a basketball game, exactly?

What makes basketball attractive among its fanbase is the frenetic action taking place relatively short time. Well, the length of a basketball game differs depending on the level of competition. High school, college, international, WNBA, and NBA basketball games vary in length, and many factors affect their runtime.

This article explains the length of a basketball game as well as a few factors that influence how long a basketball game lasts.

Basketball Game Lengths

The length of a basketball game depends upon a few things. These are the gender of the players, their age group, and competition levels. Regardless of how long a basketball game lasts based on these factors, one team always comes out as a winner. This is not the case in other sports like soccer, where a game may end up in a draw.

The following is a rundown of the various game lengths across multiple basketball leagues and competition levels:

How long is a basketball game in college

NBA (National Basketball Association)

The NBA has gone on to become the premier professional basketball league in the world. Most pro leagues more or less have similar rules and gameplay lengths. Therefore, the NBA is an excellent benchmark for determining how long professional basketball games last.

An NBA game consists of four 12-minute quarters and a 15-minute break at halftime. But the game story does not end there. In-game stoppages due to timeouts, fouls, challenges, and call reviews drag the game more than the 48-minute regulation time.

As a result, a typical NBA game lasts about two hours and 13 minutes during the regular season. Games may take longer in the playoffs and may reach three hours.

See NBA Players By The Numbers: Wingspans, Verticals, Hand Sizes.

WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association)

A WNBA game has two 20-minute halves and a 15-minute break in between. Much like any basketball game, it ends up way longer than regulation time because of dead-ball situations, timeouts, and other circumstances. All of these extend the time of WNBA games which typically last 2 hours to 2 and 1/2 hours.

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FIBA/Olympics

International basketball competitions have a 40-minute regulation time divided into four 10-minute quarters. The halftime break is 15 minutes. Unlike the pro leagues, there are no mandatory TV timeouts in FIBA-sanctioned competitions.

The rules only give one timeout a quarter per team and two in the fourth quarter. These are the reasons why international competitions last a maximum of two hours and sometimes even less.

See Basketball Terms and Definitions.

NCAA

Men’s NCAA features 40 minutes of regulation time, divided into two 20-minute halves. Between the 15-minute halftime break, three timeouts per team, and deadball situations, NCAA games typically last two hours and 10 minutes. Women’s NCAA games last just as long.

3X3 Basketball

Another popular type of basketball game is 3v3 basketball. It has a much faster pace, with games generally constructed around a single 10-minute period. All the previously mentioned factors, such as injuries, stoppages, and the like, will cause the clock to stop.

However, in 3-on-3 basketball, the scoring is different: whoever scores 21 points first, regardless of time, wins the match. Another significant difference is the shot clock. Standard basketball games follow a 24-second shot clock (30 seconds in college ball), but 3-on-3 is only 12 seconds.

See The Doctor is in: Julius Erving.

Big 3

The BIG 3 is technically a 3-on-3 competition, but many rules have been tweaked. They have a four-point shot, which is fun and revolutionary. A game does not have a game clock but is completely reliant on scoring. The first team that reaches 50 points wins the match, while the halftime break ensues when one of the teams reaches 30.

Considering all the unique rules the league implements, a BIG 3 game often lasts more or less an hour. In their fourth season, this championship game between Trilogy and Three-Headed Monsters lasted 57 minutes and 47 seconds.

High School

How long is a basketball game at the high school level? Well, a high school game lasts between an hour and 15 minutes and an hour and 30 minutes. That’s because they play fewer regulation minutes at eight minutes per quarter.

AAU Basketball

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) plays 16-minute halves with three-minute overtime games. Halftime is only three minutes and a five-minute warmup before games.

Common Factors That Affect Basketball Game Length

Here are some common factors that can affect the length of basketball games.

Overtime

Overtime, or simply OT, is when two teams end up tied after regulation time. Across competition levels, overtime is five minutes long. However, the game may stretch even longer because of the additional timeout given to teams in such periods. A game, at times, could have multiple overtimes since there is no limit to OT periods in the NBA, FIBA, or NCAA.

Challenges and Reviews

The rules on challenges and reviews are only applied in the NBA and certain pro leagues. In their quest to get a call right, officials in some games may take as long as half an hour just to figure out who touched the ball last. This drags the game longer than necessary, often from periods of a bit of boredom to straight-up ridiculous.

Challenges are the same thing, but these are essentially glorified timeouts that last around two minutes.

Timeouts

Timeouts have always been a part of basketball, especially in professional leagues. These typically last one minute, but the NBA is very loose with their timeout regulations. Fewer timeouts in the NCAA and FIBA are why these games are considerably shorter than the NBA or WNBA games.

Clock Stoppages and Quarter Breaks

Clock stoppages every now and then are a crucial part of basketball. Every time a foul or a turnover is committed, the clock is stopped until a team inbounds the ball or after making free throws. The clock is also stopped if the ball is tapped out of bounds.

In leagues where referees get paid per game, It is sometimes noted that refs will “swallow their whistles” in order for the game to move along at a quicker pace.

After quarters, teams cool down for a break of around a minute and a half, extending the game further.

How Basketball Overtime Works?

Overtimes add more excitement to basketball games, but you should be worried if you have an appointment later. There are no limits to how many overtime periods it takes to determine the winner of a basketball game. Fortunately, OTs usually do their job.

That said, overtime rules work differently across different organizations and competition levels. Here are the nuances:

1.) In the NBA, teams are given two more timeouts in an overtime period, thereby dragging games much longer. NBA’s OT periods happen precisely 130 seconds after the end of regulation play. Substitutions are also unlimited.

2.) College basketball’s OT periods are also five minutes in length like anywhere else, but they are only allowed one timeout per.

3.) WNBA overtime periods begin exactly two minutes or 120 seconds after regulation play ends. They are allowed two 20-second timeouts but only one substitution.

How Long is a Timeout in Basketball?

During the game, each basketball team has a set number of timeouts. Timeouts allow players to catch their breath, coaches to discuss strategy, and substitutions to be made. The number and length of timeouts vary according to league and competition level:

1.) In the NBA, teams are given seven timeouts each that they can use throughout the game. These are generally a minute and 15 seconds long, but it’s not uncommon to see teams take longer than that. There are also mandatory timeouts, timeouts charged to either team when there have not yet been any timeouts taken. This is to make way for TV advertisements and last longer than regular timeouts.

2.) FIBA and Olympic basketball games only allow five timeouts of one minute each. Two may be used in the first half and three in the second.

3.) NCAA college basketball teams have four timeouts on games broadcasted on TV. Three of these timeouts are of the 30-second variety and one 60-second timeout.

4.) High school teams are allowed five timeouts throughout the game. Three are full (or 60-second) timeouts, and two last 30 seconds.

10 Fun Facts on Basketball Game Length

1.) The longest NBA game time was 78 minutes back in 1951. The Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals engage in a six-overtime match, to which Indiana won 75-73.

2.) The most recent four-OT game in the NBA playoffs occurred in 2019. It was Game 3 of the conference semifinals between Denver and Portland. The Nuggets won 140-137, to which Nikola Jokic played almost 65 minutes of game time.

3.) The longest college basketball game ran 75 minutes of game time between Cincinnati and Bradley back in 1981. The match ended in a win by the Bearcats of Cincinnati, 75-73. Did you notice? What’s up with these 75-73 games?

4.) Another tidbit from the longest college game: Two players, one from each team, played a whopping 73 game-time minutes! These are Cincinnati’s Bobby Austin and Bradley’s Donald Reese, and their record is still unbroken to this day.

5.) The longest WNBA game was played between the Orlando Miracle and Cleveland Rockers in 2002. It was a triple-OT game that lasted almost three hours. Ultimately, the Miracle won, 103-99. Interestingly, both teams are currently not in the WNBA.

Hoops Trivia on Game Length

6.) Dale Ellis holds the record for playing the most minutes in a single game. This was in a quintuple OT game between Seattle and Milwaukee back in November 1989. Ellis played a total of 69 minutes out of a possible 73, while his teammate Xavier McDaniel played 68. They eventually lost 154-155.

7.) Tied for the longest NBA playoff game was played between the Syracuse Nationals and Boston Celtics in 1953. It took four overtimes to decide the winner, and Boston eventually took it 111-105. Syracuse’s Red Rocha and Paul Seymour played 67 minutes each, while Boston’s Bob Cousy scored 50 in 66 minutes.

8.) The unofficial record of the shortest NBA game was between the Charlotte Bobcats and New Orleans Hornets on March 12, 2002. The running time was only 1 hour and 56 minutes. Part of the reason why the game went by relatively quickly was the minimal attempted free throws– only 14 total FTs from both teams.

9.) The second shortest game was between the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks in February 2014. The running time was only 1 hour and 58 minutes. The Grizzlies won, 79-76, despite attempting only one free throw.

10.) The longest NBA Finals games both involved the Phoenix Suns. The Suns lost in triple OT vs. Boston in 1976, while Barkley and Co. edged Michael Jordan and the Bulls back in 93.

Final Thoughts: How Long is a Basketball Game?

As a basketball fan, part of the things you need to understand is the length of a basketball game. This will help you appreciate how well-conditioned the athletes are and perhaps accurately schedule your appointments around game times.

So, really, how long is a basketball game? There is no one correct answer since every league and competition level imposes different rules. In the NBA, game time is 48 minutes, but breaks, timeouts, and clock stoppages extend the real-time to two and a half hours. FIBA and WNBA games are usually shorter because they only play 40 minutes of regulation.

Why does a basketball game last that long? Some of the factors are because of timeouts, extended breaks, and clock stoppages. Timeouts last 20 seconds at the very least to 75 seconds for NBA full timeouts.

Halftime breaks are 15 minutes long, while breaks between quarters last over a minute. The clock is also stopped when the ball goes out of bounds and fouls are committed. Add all of these into the equation, and you got a pretty long game.

Despite all the hours you spend watching a basketball game, genuine fans surely won’t mind. For many of us, it’s not a question of “How long is a basketball game?” but, “How much fun did I have?” There is no better feeling than watching two tremendous ballclubs compete, no matter how long it takes.

By Jan Rey with Mike O’Halloran

Jan is a sucker for all things basketball, and still yells, “Kobe!” every time he tosses a crumpled paper into a trash bin. Mike has written four books on youth basketball including The Well-Prepared Coach: 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans.

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