Mullins’ 35-footer sends UConn to Final Four

Another great chapter in the (1) Connecticut-(2) Duke rivalry was written on Sunday in the East Regional Final at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.

With UConn trailing 72-70, Duke guard Cayden Boozer’s pass was deflected and stolen by Silas Demery Jr., which led to a 35-foot three-point shot by freshman guard Braylon Mullins with 0.3 seconds left, and the Huskies would defeat Duke 73-72 to advance to the Final Four to face Illinois next Saturday in Indianapolis in the National Semifinals.

UConn has now made the Final Four for the third time in four seasons.

After the win, Mullins, who is an Indiana native, reacted to his game-winning shot.

“Man, it’s just — yeah, still a loss of words,” Mullins said. “Still processing all of what just happened. I think that last possession, it was just we were trying to foul the worst free-throw shooter on the floor, and Silas ended up deflecting the pass to the other end of the floor. I had the ball, and I know AK had just hit one. So I threw it to him with four seconds left, and man, he just threw the ball back to me, and I knew I had to put one up.  Man, I’m just happy that was the one that went down tonight.”

Senior forward Alex Karaban, who struggled with his shot and scored only five points on Sunday, assisted on Mullins game-winner, and had a feeling it would go in after it left Mullins’ hands.

“When I saw Braylon, and for some reason I had the gut instinct to pass it to him,” Karaban said. “I looked at the rim and there was five seconds left, and I thought maybe something better could develop. I had Cam Boozer in front of me, which was a harder, more difficult shot, so I passed it to Braylon. When I saw him release it, I was like, ‘That really might go in.’ It went in, and the Indiana kid sent us to Indianapolis. Like that one? I’ve been using it a lot lately. You know, he did that. I mean, every time Braylon shoots it from no matter where, it looks like it’s going in.”

The Huskies, who made the second-biggest comeback in regional finals history in this game after trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, were down 44-29 at halftime.

However, they kept fighting and clawing to make it a game in the second half. Karaban believed UConn, who outscored Duke 44-28 in the second half, played a more physical game.

“I think it was the start of the second half we started being more physical,” Karabin said. “We started really playing to the calling card that we play at. We just felt like we let our offense really dictate how we were playing in the first half when we necessarily didn’t have shots fall, or the flow of our offense really got disrupted. I think, when we took pride on the defensive end, everything changed.”

Senior center Tarris Reed Jr, who led UConn with 26 points and nine rebounds, added: 

“We were coming out of halftime down 15 or whatever it was, going down and giving it our all,” he said. “Keep chipping away, keep chipping away at the lead. Then we get it back, and the rest is history.”

UConn coach Dan Hurley felt this game was a microcosm of their season.

“I think for us, the story was just that that game was a reflection on the season,” he said. “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. 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.”

Freshman forward Cameron Boozer, who led Duke with 27 points and eight rebounds, says the Blue Devils gave UConn life in the second half.

“I think we fought hard,” Boozer said. “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. When you’re playing a team as good as UConn, that’s all they really need.”

What a rivalry between these two teams, who have a combined 11 National Championships.

In 1990, Christian Laettner hit a game-winner against the Huskies in the East Regional Finals. Nine years later, UConn defeated Duke in the National Championship Game. In 2004, UConn knocked off the Blue Devils in the National Semifinals, and 22 years later, we had another classic game.