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UConn eliminates Duke, reaches Final Four with deep 3-pointer with less than a second remaining

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp10 hours ago

They don’t call it March Madness for nothing. UConn appeared dead in the water after giving possession back to Duke with 10 seconds to go, down 73-71.

Nobody told the Huskies. They forced a turnover from Duke freshman Cayden Boozer near midcourt, then the ball fell to Braylon Mullins about six feet behind the 3-point line.

He squared up. SWISH!

UConn took the lead 73-72, with only 0.4 seconds left on the clock. Duke could not get a final shot off at the buzzer, ending the game with an absolute stunner.

“I mean I don’t know. I looked up at the clock and it’s saying it’s at five seconds,” Mullins explained of his late-game shot. “So I tried to get the ball to somebody who had made one in the game, and he wanted to throw it back. So I saw three seconds, it was the last shot. Just happy to see that sh*t go in. I’m just so happy.”

The Blue Devils had opened up a 19-point lead over the Huskies at the 3:24 mark remaining in the first half. Most had written off UConn at that point, with Duke seemingly cruising to another Final Four appearance.

Instead, UConn kept battling. Big man Tarris Reed was a force inside, putting multiple Duke big men into foul trouble. He scored 26 points in the contest and kept the Huskies alive. From there, they just battled.

“I think it was just trying to chip at the lead,” Mullins said. “Just one play at a time, one possession at a time. I mean I thought we started the second half with a lot of intensity, so I think we were just clawing back into the game and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

How improbable was Mullins’ late shot? UConn had previously gone just 4-of-22 (18.2%) from 3-point range in the contest. Mullins was 0-of-4 personally.