WASHINGTON (AP) — Braylon Mullins picked up a loose ball at center half and suddenly, improbably, UConn had a chance to win.
As the frantic final seconds unfolded, Dan Hurley thought a timeout would do little good.
“It just felt like the window where you had to let March Madness take over,” Hurley said. “March magic.”
The Huskies have enjoyed plenty of that over the years, and this was perhaps their most astonishing win yet. Mullins sank a desperation 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to give UConn a 73-72 victory over top-seeded Duke on Sunday, earning the Huskies a spot in the Final four after recovering from a 19-point deficit in the first half.
The Blue Devils (35-3) led by three before UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. made one of two free throws with 10 seconds left. With Duke playing keepaway to prevent the Huskies from fouling, Cayden Boozer’s pass near midcourt was deflected by Demary, and after UConn came up with the ball, Mullins swished a 3 from 10 yards out.
“We tried to foul the worst free throw shooter on the floor, but Silas ended up deflecting the pass,” Mullins said. “I knew I had to put one on. Man, I’m just glad that was the one that went down tonight.”
UConn (33-5) hit just 5 of 23 from three-point range. The fifth will be remembered for generations in Connecticut.
It’s the second straight season to end in a massive collapse for Duke, who was the top seed in this year’s tournament. The Blue Devils led by six with 1:14 to go fall to Houston in last year’s national semifinals.
“I couldn’t be more disappointed and sorry for our guys while at the same time trying to process what happened,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I don’t have the words. I don’t have the words.”
Hurley is trying to coach the Huskies to a national title for the third time in four seasons, a feat not accomplished since UCLA in the 1970s. UConn now faces third-ranked Illinois in Saturday’s semifinals in Indianapolis.
To get there, the Huskies needed one of the biggest comebacks in regional final history. Only Louisville, which came from 20th down to beat West Virginia in 2005, had a bigger one. Duke led 44-25 late in the first half and 44-29 at halftime. That is now the largest halftime lead in tournament history by a No. 1 seed.
Cameron Boozer, who had 27 points for the Blue Devils, fought his way home for a basket with 28.9 seconds to play, and the next UConn possession took valuable time before Demary fouled out.
After making one, the impact came to Cameron Boozer, who passed from a double team to Dame Sarr, who then found Cameron’s twin brother, Cayden Boozer, in the middle of the court. Instead of waiting for a mistake to be made, Cayden Boozer – who shoots about 81% from the line – tried to make another pass as Mullins and Demary approached him.
“I knew we were the back two guys, and we left whoever was behind us,” Mullins said. “We were just trying to make a play.”
There were two Duke players alone deep, but the ball never got there. Demary was able to parry it and Mullins picked it up near center half. He passed it to Alex Karaban, who gave it back to Mullins. The freshman was in rhythm, but about halfway between the three-point arc and half court.
It goes next to the great winning shots of the NCAA Tournament, next to Christian Laettner’s shot for Duke in the 1992 Elite Eight against Kentucky and Kris Jenkins’s shot to win the national title for Villanova in 2016. Or Laettner’s shot in the 1990 regional final – which turned another Duke-UConn classic from a loss to a win for the Blue Devils.
“Just another chapter in the drama of the UConn-Duke NCAA Tournament,” Hurley said. “It’s obviously a very tough way to end their season. I thought they played great. I thought they hit us in the mouth with incredible force.”
The Blue Devils smothered UConn defensively for most of the game, in part because the Huskies missed 17 of their first 18 attempts from beyond the arc. When Hurley was told about that statistic after the game, he laughed and held his hands over his face.
“What did you just say, 1 to 18?” Hurley said. “I knew it was bad. I kept asking the assistant coaches, and no one would tell me what it was.”
Tarris Reed Jr. led UConn with 26 points, and for a while had little help offensively. However, the Huskies gradually closed their deficit in the second half, and a 3 from Karaban brought them within one with less than a minute remaining.
UConn rolls into later rounds, sometimes at Duke’s expense
UConn has now won 18 consecutive games in the Sweet 16 or subsequent rounds. The last loss for the Huskies in those stages of the tournament was against Michigan State in the 2009 Final Four.
For all the success Duke has had over the years, the Blue Devils have now had their hearts broken three times in a row by UConn in the Big Dance. The Huskies defeated one of Duke’s best teams in the 1999 title game and rallied late to beat the Blue Devils in the 2004 semifinals.
This one was a gut punch similar to that one.
Next
UConn: The Huskies have met Illinois once in the NCAA tournament. UConn won 77-52 in the Elite Eight in 2024.
Duke: The Blue Devils are expected to lose Cameron Boozer to the NBA.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
