UConn Stuns Duke on Mullins' 35-Foot Buzzer-Beater, Reaches Final Four

Braylon Mullins caught the inbound, took a couple of dribbles beyond midcourt, and launched from 35 feet with 0.3 seconds on the clock. The ball split the net clean.

That shot gave No. 2 UConn a 73-72 lead over top-seeded Duke with no time remaining to answer. Duke's inbound pass was immediately tipped away, and the Huskies had completed one of the most improbable comebacks in NCAA Tournament history, advancing to the Final Four at Capital One Arena in Washington.

The difficulty of the shot cannot be separated from the hole UConn spent 39-plus minutes digging. The Huskies trailed by 19 points at one point Sunday, entered halftime down 15, and had not led since the opening possessions of the game. Everything about the evening suggested Duke would advance. Instead, Mullins, a freshman guard who shook off a quiet performance, authored the defining moment.

"It's epic. It's another chapter in the UConn-Duke NCAA Tournament dramatics," Hurley said in the postgame press conference. "One of the most brilliant shooters that you'll see shoot a basketball made an incredible, legendary March shot."

Hurley credited more than individual brilliance for the turnaround. The team "leaned on our resiliency and fortitude" to mount the comeback, a phrase that doubles as a description of UConn's institutional identity under his tenure. Coming back from 19 down against a No. 1 seed in the Elite Eight is not the product of a single play; it reflects the habits and collective belief Hurley has built over four seasons in Storrs.

Mullins described the emotional arc of his night with disarming clarity. "The first four minutes I was in, the nerves were going, just to get my feet wet a little bit," he said. "But as the game went along, just play basketball. At the end of the day, it's a child's game. We got some stuff done and got the win."

That composure, shaky early and then locked in for a 35-footer against a blue-blood program, is precisely the kind of player development that positions UConn for deeper Final Four runs. Hurley is expected to give Mullins expanded responsibility as the freshman grows more comfortable, and Sunday's shot compressed that entire growth arc into a single unforgettable moment.

The win is UConn's third Final Four appearance in four seasons under Hurley, who previously won back-to-back national championships with the Huskies and now has a shot at a third title in four tries. The arc of this particular season sharpens the achievement: earlier in the year, Hurley was ejected in the final second of a 68-62 loss at Marquette after arguing a no-foul call and drawing two technical fouls, which earned him a $25,000 fine from the Big East for unsportsmanlike conduct. Before that, a narrow road win at Georgetown that pushed UConn to 18-1 produced a colorful postgame press conference in which Hurley made his feelings about the seating arrangements known.

The intensity that cost him $25,000 in Milwaukee is the same intensity that kept his team competing for 40 minutes while trailing by double digits against the nation's top seed. On Sunday, Mullins matched it shot for shot, then settled the matter from 35 feet.