WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the ball sailed through the air toward the basket, somewhere in the crowd of 19,502 people Josh Mullins turned to his wife Katie and muttered two words: “It’s good.”
Their son, Braylon, a 6-foot-6 freshman guard at UConn, had just launched a 35-footer in the waning seconds of the Huskies’ Elite Eight game against Duke at Capital One Arena. Duke led 72-70. A spot in the Final Four hung on Mullins’ heave, which seemed to move in slow motion on its path to the rim. It rose and rose and rose, carrying the hopes and dreams of two legendary programs.
It dropped in.
At first, there was utter disbelief. One half of the building erupted into chaos; the other fell eerily silent. UConn coach Dan Hurley leapt up and down on the sideline, nearly losing his blazer amid the frenzied celebration. Once composed, he gazed out at the court with his mouth agape, seemingly in shock.
Mullins himself needed a moment to process what had transpired. As he looked up at the scoreboard, he realized that his improbable shot — one of the most memorable in the history of the NCAA Tournament — had given UConn the lead. “I thought we were losing by three, so I thought we tied the game,” Mullins admitted afterward, standing on the confetti-covered court with a Final Four hat on his head. “I looked up and we were winning by one.”
The shot delivered the Huskies an unforgettable 73-72 win and a trip to the Final Four next weekend in Indianapolis, where they will take on South Regional champion Illinois on Saturday. It also handed Duke another gut-wrenching March Madness loss following last season’s heartbreak in a national semifinal against Houston.
Mullins took the shot just a few steps inside the halfcourt line, right beside the giant “March Madness” logo. Seconds earlier, UConn junior Silas Demary Jr. had forced a turnover, deflecting a pass from Duke freshman Cayden Boozer. After retrieving the loose ball, Mullins fed it ahead to senior Alex Karaban. “I thought he was going to shoot, but he decided to throw it back to me,” Mullins said. “I was ready for it. I have the confidence to shoot no matter what.”
Despite the pressure of the moment, the degree of difficulty of the shot and that Mullins had missed all four of his previous three-point attempts, those who know him best had faith that the prayer would find the bottom of the net.
“I shoot with him every day. I’m his partner for partner shooting,” associate head coach Kimani Young said. “I watch that guy shoot lights out every single day. That doesn’t surprise me one bit. When he let that go, I knew it was going through.”
“Every time Braylon shoots it from no matter where, it looks like it’s going in,” Karaban said.
“I knew it was good,” Braylon’s dad told Hoops HQ. “I’ve seen him do it before.”
Duke Was Headed to the Final Four. Then, Suddenly, It Wasn’t.
The Blue Devils ended last season with a meltdown in the Final Four. This season ended with a meltdown in the Elite Eight.
That UConn was even in position to win the game was remarkable. Duke completely owned the first half, looking every bit the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Blue Devils led 44-29 at the break, but it felt far worse. UConn was 1-of-11 from three, Karaban had yet to record a single stat outside of a foul, Duke’s Cameron and Cayden Boozer had nearly as many points (27) as the entire UConn roster and a disgruntled Hurley already had received a warning from the officials for leaving the coach’s box.
It had been a nightmare 20 minutes for the Huskies, inspiring little hope of a comeback. Cameron Boozer, the USBWA National Player of the Year, was picking apart UConn’s top-10 defense with ease. On the other end, the Blue Devils were wreaking havoc with their size and length, forcing difficult shots and ugly turnovers. The only reason UConn was within striking distance was senior center Tarris Reed Jr., who had bulldozed his way to 12 points.
And yet inside UConn’s locker room, the mood was upbeat. This team, which is the most experienced remaining in the tournament, had been through plenty of adversity together. “Everybody was speaking positively,” Young said. “It was all about just digging in, stringing some stops together, continuing to ride Tarris inside, getting out in transition a little bit, and then hopefully the game would break our way. And it did.”
Slowly but surely, UConn began to creep back. Mullins hit two midrange jumpers, Reed continued to dominate on the interior and Karaban finally got on the board, springing free for a layup that made it 56-47 at the 12:20 mark. The teams exchanged blows for the next eight minutes before a 7-0 UConn run — capped by a breakaway and-one by junior guard Solo Ball — narrowed the deficit to 67-65.
But while momentum had swung to the Huskies, Duke didn’t unravel — at least not yet. A jump hook from Cameron Boozer, who led all scorers with 27 points, and a free throw from sophomore center Patrick Ngongba stopped the bleeding. With UConn down 70-66 with just over a minute to go, Reed got a critical steal on a Boozer drive.
In desperate need of a basket, the Huskies turned to their captain.
To that point, Karaban was 1-of-9 from the field and 0-of-5 from behind the arc. It was one of the worst shooting performances of his four-year career, but when he found himself open off a Reed screen, he didn’t hesitate. Karaban’s first three of the night cut the lead to 70-69.
“You can’t really let your confidence die down when you don’t see shots go in,” Karaban said. “So just continuing to believe in myself, continuing to thank my teammates for trusting in me no matter what. And when I shot it, it looked good.”
After another Boozer bucket and a free throw from Demary with 10 seconds left, Duke had the ball up 72-70 and a chance to put it away. Then the impossible happened.
“That game was a reflection of the season,” Hurley said. “It’s been a season where we’ve been dealt 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. I thought the game was a microcosm of that. We fought, we clawed, we 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.”
That legendary shot has the Huskies bound for college basketball’s biggest stage for the third time in the past four seasons. UConn has won a staggering 18 consecutive games in the second weekend or later of the NCAA Tournament, a streak dating to 2011. The program claimed back-to-back national titles in 2023 and ’24, and now will get a chance to add another to its collection.
Before turning their attention to Illinois, though, the Huskies will enjoy this epic moment. They made sure to soak it in during the trophy presentation and net-cutting ceremony, lingering on the court for a bit longer than usual. Reed, who finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals, was named the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player, but the hero was a kid who just so happens to be from the Indianapolis suburbs.
“This is the stuff we dream about. And to go back home to Indy where we’re from … it’s special,” Josh Mullins said.
“I can’t even explain it,” Braylon said, shaking his head. “It’s the greatest moment of my life.”
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