WASHINGTON — UConn’s Braylon Mullins missed his first four 3-point attempts on Sunday. On his fifth, the freshman sank one of the all-time great shots in NCAA Tournament history.
Mullins nailed a 35-footer with 0.4 seconds remaining, and No. 2 seed UConn completed a miraculous 19-point comeback to defeat No. 1 Duke 73-72 and reach its third Final Four in four years.
“Yeah, still a loss of words. Still processing all of what just happened,” Mullins said. “Man, I’m just happy that was the one that went down tonight.”
Mullins’ heave marked the only time UConn (33-5) led in the East Region final since 2-0. It came after opting not to foul on a Duke inbound play with 10 seconds remaining.
The Blue Devils (35-3) neared halfcourt before Silas Demary Jr. deflected Cayden Boozer’s pass and Alex Karaban fed Mullins, who squared his feet and let fly.
Now Mullins is returning to Indiana for a Final Four, a year after he earned McDonald’s All-America honors there with Greenfield-Central High School.
“When I saw him release it, I was like, ‘That really might go in’,” Karaban said. “It went in, and the Indiana kid sent us to Indianapolis.”
Tarris Reed Jr. scored 26 points and finished a rebound shy of his third tournament double-double to keep the Huskies in it while they struggled from beyond the arc.
UConn finished 5 of 23 there (21.7%) after hitting just 1 of their first 18, yet still snapped the nation’s longest active winning streak at 14 games.
“What the hell did you just say, 1 for 18?” UConn coach Dan Hurley responded in the postgame press conference, covering his face in disbelief. “I knew it was bad. I kept asking the assistant coaches, and no one would tell me what it was.”
Demary finished with 11 points, and Solo Ball and Mullins each had 10 as UConn remained alive for a third national title under Hurley and seventh overall.
“It’s been a season where we’ve been dealt with injuries to key players at critical points of the year that we’ve had to overcome, and we’ve had to show a lot of fortitude and resilience and just kind of claw our way through the season,” Hurley said. “Thought just the game was a microcosm of that. We fought, we clawed, put ourselves in position to take advantage of a mistake that they made.
“And one of the most brilliant shooters you’ll ever see shoot a basketball made an incredible, legendary March shot.”
The Huskies will face No. 3 seed Illinois, which eliminated No. 9 Iowa 71-59 on Saturday in the South Region final, in Saturday’s early game.
Cameron Boozer scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds in what is likely his final collegiate game, with the Naismith Award favorite likely to be an NBA draft lottery selection in June.
“I’m just super thankful for it all,” Boozer said. “I’m hurting right now. We’re all hurting. I wish I could have gave more for those guys.”
His freshman twin Cayden finished with 15 points and six assists before committing the fatal turnover — one of eight after halftime — and Dame Sarr had 10 points.
Coach Jon Scheyer finished a game shy of back-to-back Final Four appearances in his fourth season as Mike Krzyzewski’s successor.
“We just gave them easy baskets,” Scheyer said. “We just had to secure the ball better, and that’s a recipe to put yourself in that position.”
Karaban keyed a game-winning 8-2 stretch by sinking his only 3 of the contest — after averaging 22 points in his first three tournament games – with 50 seconds left for a 70-69 deficit.
Cameron Boozer pushed Duke up 72-69 on a basket, then Demary sank one of two free throws when Duke fouled intentionally with 10 seconds remaining.
Sarr inbounded from the baseline to Cameron Boozer, who returned the pass, then found Cayden Boozer on the left, who dribbled forward and then tried to pass over a trap.
Demary deflected it, Mullins reached it and fed Karaban on the wing. Cameron Boozer closed on Karaban, who returned the ball to Mullins.
“I think we were all just trying to get the ball out of whoever had the ball in their hands and trying to make a play on the ball,” Mullins said. “Silas made an incredible, incredible play, and everything else just happened as it is.”
The Huskies tackled their deficit in pieces, first cutting an early 19-point deficit to 15 by halftime, then using an 8-1 run to get within seven.
After Duke restored its lead to double figures, another 10-2 UConn run closed it to within 67-65 when Solo Ball took advantage of Isaiah Evans’ turnover, raced up the court and completed a three-point play with 3:42 left.
–Ian Quillen, Field Level Media
