UConn men’s basketball pulled off an improbable, historic comeback to punch its ticket to the Final Four on Sunday, knocking out top-seeded Duke, 73-72, after a game-winning three-pointer from Braylon Mullins with 0.4 seconds remaining.
The Huskies trailed for over 38 minutes and tied one of the biggest come-from-behind victories in March Madness history after going down 19 in the first half. Tarris Reed Jr. scored 26 points, keeping UConn in it with his low-post play before the threes finally started falling late.
UConn started an abysmal 1-17 from behind the arc, but drilled 4-6 down the stretch, including Mullins’ game-winner and another timely hit from Alex Karaban in the final minute to cut the Duke lead to one point.
The Huskies (33-5) looked overmatched in the first half, but slowly clawed back across the second half behind some big-time defensive plays and clutch shooting. It felt like Duke was going to run away with the game after a 15-point halftime lead, but Dan Hurley coached a masterpiece after the break and has his team going to Indianapolis. They forced eight second-half turnovers.
Duke (35-3) came into the day fresh off a down-to-the-wire win over St. John’s in the Sweet 16 on Friday. The number-one overall seed Blue Devils were looking to make their second straight Final Four under Jon Scheyer behind the play of national player of the year Cameron Boozer and the rest of his supporting cast.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a fast start offensively, with a lot of it coming from Boozer. He and Reed traded blows in the opening minutes, as Duke took a 16-10 lead into the first media timeout. Reed had eight of the 10 Husky points.
Reed would continue his dominance in the next segment, but the threes began to fall for the Blue Devils. After hitting just five threes the entire game against St. John’s, Duke hit four in the first eight minutes from four different players to take a 22-16 lead.
Jumpers from Boozer and Isaiah Evans pushed the lead into double digits for the first time, but a three from Malachi Smith and a great slip from Silas Demary Jr. got it back down to five before Duke rattled off two more buckets to make it 30-21.
The Blue Devils ended up going on a 14-0 run to balloon the lead to 40-21 before a pair of Ball free throws finally silenced it. UConn went 4:59 between points, falling into a deep hole late in the first half.
The lead peaked at 44-25 before the Huskies stole a little momentum, scoring the final four points of the half on a hook shot from Eric Reibe and a layup from Smith. UConn held Duke without a point for the final 3:24 of the half and cut it to 15, 44-29, at the break.
The Huskies shot just 1-11 from three in the first half, compared to 5-11 for Duke.
Mullins led the early second-half attack for UConn in the second half, scoring five points on a pair of mid-range jumpers and a free throw to help cut the lead down to 12. By the under-16, Duke led 52-38. The Blue Devils committed six fouls in the first five minutes after just four in the entire first 20 minutes.
The Huskies didn’t quit. Reed took over once again, cutting the deficit to 10 after a fastbreak slam off of a steal. After Boozer split some free throws, Alex Karaban would finally get on the board on a nice slip to the rim, and Reed threw down another slam to make it 56-49 and trigger a Scheyer timeout with 10:59 to play.
Demary checked back in after sitting for a while and banged a pair of corner threes to make it 65-58. Evans would hit a pair of free throws to push it back to nine, but a 6-0 run ensued for UConn into the final media timeout, including a transition three-point play from Ball. After the stoppage, he hit the free throw to make it 67-65.
The Blue Devils would get it back to five after a basket from Boozer and a free throw from Patrick Ngongba. Ball would be fouled on the other end, splitting his free throws and making it 70-66 Duke with 1:20 to play.
Reed grabbed a big steal to set up Karaban for his first three of the day in a huge spot, cutting the deficit to just one. Boozer hit a difficult floater in the lane to get it back to three, and Hurley called timeout with 26.9 to play, Huskies ball with the shot clock off.
Demary was fouled with 10 seconds left. He missed the first and made the second, cutting it to two. The Huskies pressed Duke tipped the ball as they passed half court. The ball landed in Mullins hands, who passed it to Karaban, who passed it back to Mullins, who fired up a 40-footer that went straight through to seal the historic win.
UConn’s last lead was 2-0 at the very beginning of the game. Mullins had been 0-4 from three before his last-second heave, painting the picture for one of the greatest shots in program history.
Next up, the Huskies are set to face Illinois in the Final Four next Saturday in Indianapolis. UConn already played and defeated the Fighting Illini this year back in November. Tip-off is TBD from Lucas Oil Stadium.
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