Braylon Mullins might have a fantastic NBA career ahead of him. He might produce dozens of highlight-reel plays and hit a plethora of game-winning shots.
But the 19-year-old Mullins will never – ever – do anything on a basketball court that will be remembered more than what he did Sunday at Capital One Center in Washington D.C. at crunch time of the East Region finals.
After UConn cut Duke’s lead to 72-70 with 10.0 seconds remaining, Mullins gathered a steal off a deflection by Silas Demary of Cayden Boozer’s pass. Mullins threw the ball ahead to Alex Karaban, who dished it right back to Mullins, who let it fly from 35 feet out.
It was all nylon with 0.4 ticks remaining.
After the officials reviewed the clock, Duke’s length-of-the-floor pass was batted away by Karaban.
UConn lost to Duke on Christian Laettner’s double-pump leaner at the horn in the Meadowlands in the Elite Eight of the 1990 NCAA Tournament. Nine years later, the Huskies beat the Blue Devils to win the 1999 national championship and, 36 years after Laettner’s buzzer beater, they rallied from a 19-point deficit to down Jon Scheyer’s team, 73-72, as 4.5-point underdogs.
UConn (33-5 straight up, 16-22 against the spread) hooked up its money-line supporters with a +185 payout. The 145 combined points went ‘over’ the 134.5-point total.
The Huskies improved to 18-0 in NCAA Tournament games in the Sweet 16 and beyond since 2011. They also upped their record to 17-1 in their last 18 NCAA Tournament games.
Tarris Reed produced 26 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and two steals, making 10-of-16 field-goal attempts. Demary (11 points), Mullins (10) and Solo Ball (10) were also in double figures, while Malachi Smith had nine points, one steal and two assists without a turnover in 18 minutes of action from off the bench.
Karaban was limited to five points, but he hit a huge trey from 26 feet out with 50 seconds left to trim Duke’s lead to 70-69.
In the losing effort, Cam Boozer led Duke with 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocked shots. Cayden Boozer added 15 points, six assists, five boards and two steals.
Danny Hurley’s squad will now face Illinois (28-8 SU, 21-15 ATS) in Saturday’s curtain jerker at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis at 6:09 p.m. Eastern on TBS. The Fighting Illini downed Iowa 71-59 as a seven-point favorite in Saturday’s South Region finals in Houston.
When these teams met at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 28, UConn captured a 74-61 win over Illinois as a 4.5-point favorite. The 135 combined points dropped ‘under’ the 151.5-point total.
Ball led the winners with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals, while Smith finished with 14 points, two rebounds, one blocked shot and nine assists compared to only one turnover. Smith buried all three of his 3-point attempts and all five of his free throws. Karaban added 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots, one steal and five assists without a turnover.
Reed had only two points and five rebounds because foul trouble limited him to merely 15 minutes of playing time.
Kylan Boswell led Illinois with 25 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Tomislav Ivisic added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
As of Monday afternoon, most books had Illinois listed as a two or 2.5-point favorite with a total of 139 or 139.5. The Huskies were +115 on the money line at most spots.
UConn has been an underdog only twice this season, winning outright in each instance.
FanDuel’s updated odds to win the NCAA Tournament look like this:
Michigan +150
Arizona +185
Illinois +450
UConn +650