Mullins’ last-second three completes UConn’s 19-point comeback in Elite Eight upset of Duke
Twenty-five combined Final Four appearances. Eleven combined national championships.
The blood in college basketball doesn’t get any bluer than Duke and Connecticut. And in their fifth meeting in an NCAA Elite Eight or later, the Huskies and Blue Devils combined to produce a March Madness classic.
UConn scored 8 points in the game’s final minute, and guard Braylon Mullins’ logo-deep 3-pointer with less than a second remaining capped a 19-point comeback as the second-seeded Huskies upset top overall seed Duke 73-72, to win the East Region at Capital One Arena Sunday.
UConn advances to its third Final Four in the last four seasons, with the previous two appearances leading to back-to-back national championships. South Region champion Illinois awaits next weekend in Indianapolis as the Huskies seek their seventh title.
Connecticut guard Braylon Mullins (24) shoots …
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Center Tarris Reed Jr. led UConn (33-5) with 26 points and nine rebounds, while guard Silas Demary Jr. added 11 points. UConn made four 3-pointers in the last seven minutes, including two in the final minute, after having made only one the rest of the game.
Duke forward Cameron Boozer led all scorers with 27 points, while his brother, Cayden, notched 15. The Blue Devils (35-3) lost for the first time since another last second defeat to arch-rival North Carolina Feb. 7, snapping a national-best 14 game winning streak.
“I think we fought hard. We gave a lot, but I think as a whole we could have gave a lot more in the second half. We came out a little flat and gave them a little bit of life,” Cameron said. “When you’re playing a team as good as UConn, that’s all they really need.”
In each of Duke’s last four losses, dating to last season, all have featured the Blue Devils holding double-digit second half leads that eventually evaporated.
“I could not be more disappointed and feeling for our guys at the same time of just trying to process what happened,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I don’t have the words. I don’t have the words.”
The Blue Devils led 72-70 in the final 10 seconds, but a slow inbounding process up the floor was stolen at midcourt by Demary. Two passes later, the ball made its way to Mullins for 35-foot game-winner, setting off a wild scene.
Connecticut center Tarris Reed Jr. (5) …
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“We just have to secure it, right? We got it. They had a foul. I was ready for a timeout. We’ve just got to hold on,” Scheyer said of the sequence. “Look, it’s going to be tough, but it’s not going to be on one play.”
Reed scored 12 of UConn’s first 16 points, but didn’t get much help anywhere else on the floor. Karaban, the all-time games played leader in Connecticut history, struggled from the start, missing all five of his shots in the first half and not scoring until the 12 minute mark of the second. Three of those were from 3-point range, where UConn missed 10 of its 11 attempts in the first half — part of only a 35% overall shooting clip.
The brothers Boozer pounced, scoring a combined 27 first half points — the only Blue Devils in double figures — as Duke carried a 44-29 lead into halftime. UConn labored through a 2-of-15 stretch from the floor in the middle of the half, not making a field goal for nearly 6 minutes. Reed didn’t score in the final 12 minutes of the half, seven of which were spent on the bench with two fouls.
Whistles finally caught up to Duke in the second half. Five fouls in the first 5 minutes put UConn in the bonus by the 14 minute mark.
Reed caught fire again early in the second, scoring 11 in the first 10 minutes of the half, while no one on his team had more than eight. UConn made back-to-back threes to cut the lead to seven, 65-58, after missing a stunning 17 of its first 18 attempts.
An ensuing 6-0 run led by Ball and punctuated with him converting an and-one got the Huskies to within 2 with 3:42 left before the final minute theatrics created another indelible March moment.