Allan Ray didn’t even spend the night at the hospital.

Standing on a podium surrounded by the media, Jay Wright was easily the happiest losing coach in the history of college basketball.

About to head out of the Madison Square Garden doors and rush to the hospital to see Allan Ray, who had suffered what looked like a terrible eye injury, Wright got a phone call that changed everything.

Doctors at St. Vincent’s Hospital called Wright to say that Ray not only was fine, but would be released immediately and be able to travel home with his Villanova teammates this morning.

“We just got great news,” a beaming Wright said. “This is the best news possible. When everything happened, we heard a lot of scenarios, and this is the best-case scenario.”

Wright said Ray’s vision was restored completely. He was released only with antibiotic drops, and suffered a soft-tissue injury, not a torn cornea or anything more serious.

On the subject of the instant replay:

The injury was so gruesome that after showing one slow-motion replay, ESPN elected not to show another.

Krauser was shaken and relieved at the news after the game.

Krauser, who played at Stevenson, also was more concerned about Ray, who played at St. Ray’s.

“Allan Ray’s like a little brother to me,” said Krauser, whose finger was swollen from the impact. “I know his whole family. It’s crazy to see one of my little brother’s go down. It’s crazy. I don’t even know what to say about it.”

Some see the injury to Ray in the context of just how star-crossed by injuries this ‘Nova team has been over the recent years.

Dealing with injury is nothing unusual for the Wildcats, of course.

They played all season without Curtis Sumpter, who tore a knee ligament in a preseason practice. The Wildcats played against North Carolina in last year’s NCAA tournament, when he tore the same knee ligament.

Through their four years, they have also seen Jason Fraser undergo seven surgeries for injuries.

And Mike Nardi was out with tonsillitis this year.

Prevailing without Ray would be a tough task.

“This gives us something we’re going to have to handle,” Wright said. “That’s life. We’ll find a way.”

The 6-foot-2 senior, who is a first-team all-Big East selection from the Bronx, averages 19.1 points and four rebounds per game.

As part of the starting four-guard lineup, Ray is the Wildcats’ best three-point shooter, averaging 38.1 percent on treys.

Without Ray, the Wildcats were too undermanned to stage a comeback against the Panthers (24-6), who will face Syracuse in tonight’s championship game. Syracuse beat Georgetown, 58-57, in the earlier semifinal.

The Panthers, whom the Wildcats did not face in the regular season, held Villanova to its second-lowest scoring performance of the season.

“They played well enough we might have lost with Allan,” Wright said. “We just didn’t have it today.”