How Long Does a College Basketball Game Last?

Grant Halverson/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

A college basketball game lasts a minimum of 1.5 hours, including 40 minutes of playing time. There are nine media timeouts and up to five timeouts per coach for a total of 30 minutes of timeouts. There is also a halftime break.

Media timeouts last from two to three minutes, and coach timeouts last from 30 seconds up to a full timeout. Fouls, traveling and other calls stop the game clock and extend the total time of the game. During the regular season, halftime is 15 minutes, and it is 20 minutes during tournaments.

Overtime also adds to the length of the game. While the total time of most games is close to two hours, the record for second-longest game in NCAA history is almost four hours due to six overtimes.