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Mitchell Layton

Men's Basketball UConn Athletics

MULLINS MAGIC SENDS HUSKIES TO FINAL FOUR

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Alex Karaban and Braylon Mullins combined to go 0-for-9 from three for the two-seed UConn men's basketball team (33-5) in the first 39 minutes of regulation on Sunday against top-seed Duke (35-3) in the East Regional Final at Capital One Arena.

They hit their only two 3-pointers inside of the final minute, capping an improbable 19-point comeback in one of the great Elite Eight games in NCAA Tournament history. The senior captain and all-time great Karaban cut a four-point lead to one with 50.5 to play that helped set the stage for the freshman Mullins to bury a 40-foot heave with 0.4 seconds to play to seal an improbable 73-72 victory. With the win the Huskies will play in the Final Four for the third time in four seasons and make the eighth trip in the history of the program.

Down as many as 19 late in the first half and down 10 with six minutes to play, the Huskies never backed down and chipped and chipped away until finally taking their first lead since the opening minute with less than a second remaining. Tarris Reed Jr. was terrific all night to key the comeback, finishing with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and four blocks. For his efforts he was named 2026 NCAA Tournament East Regional Most Outstanding Player, averaging 21.8 points and 13.5 rebounds in UConn's four games in the Region.

UConn trailed 44-25 with under 90 seconds to play in the first half and was down 50-33 with 17 minutes to play in regulation. With 6:37 to play the Blue Devils held a 65-55 edge and with 1:51 remaining took a 70-65 lead. None of it was enough to hold off the hungry Huskies, who rallied and took their first lead since the opening seconds on Mullins now-iconic logo three.

Reed Jr. carried the Huskies for large portions of the contest, continuing the best stretch of basketball in the senior's career. He was joined in double-digits by Silas Demary Jr. who scored 11 points, snared five rebounds and hit a pair of massive 3-pointers in the second half surge. Solo Ball and Mullins each scored 10, while Malachi Smith finished with nine points and a team-best +10 in 17 minutes as a reserve. Karaban was limited to five points and three rebounds, but dished out three assists without a turnover, blocked two shots and most importantly was a +1, playing 38 minutes in his 17th NCAA Tournament win in 18 tries.

How it Happened

The Huskies got on the board first with a pair of free throws, but Duke answered quickly with a 7-0 run to grab an early edge. Duke continued its strong start from the field and back-to-back 3-pointers from the Blue Devils gave them a double-digit lead with 13:24 to play in the first. Reed Jr. scored on the next two trips to pull back within six, part of scoring 12 of UConn's first 16 before a timeout at 12:00 with the Huskies down 22-16. 

At 6:47 Duke's fifth three of the opening stanza ahead of a flurry of free throws were part of a four-plus minute 14-0 run that ended with the Blue Devils holding their largest lead of the day up 40-21 before Ball ended the run at 4:13. UConn went to the half down 44-29, thanks in part to an ice-cold 1-of-11 start from downtown. 

Early in the second a Mullins three-point play and transition lay-in from Demary Jr. cut the lead down to 12 at 50-38 with 16:29 on the timer. Down 55-41 with 13:09 to play, Reed Jr. scored inside before generating a steal-and-slam to cut the lead to 10. After the big man found a cutting Karaban for a bucket inside, he scored again on a put-back and triggered a Duke timeout with the Huskies within 56-49 and 10:59 to play. 

With 7:00 to play, Demary Jr. cashed in UConn's first 3-pointer of the second half after an 0-of-7 start and slimmed the lead back to seven, then connected again from deep on UConn's next trip before a Husky timeout with 6:06 to play, down 65-58. The second triple kicked off a 10-2 run that included a pair of buckets apiece from Reed Jr. and Ball, capped by a three-point play for Ball that cut the edge to 67-65 wrapped around a timeout with 3:42 to play. 

With UConn back down four inside of a minute to play, Karaban drilled his first 3-pointer of the night to cut the lead to 70-69 with 50.5 to play. Duke scored inside on its next trip and the Huskies called for time down three with 27.2 to play. With 10.0 to play, Demary Jr. drew contact before going to the line and connecting on one of two and the Huskies trailed 72-70. 

With the press on and time running down, Demary Jr. tipped a Blue Devil pass into the awaiting hand of Mullins to create the desperately needed turnover. Mullins quickly tossed ahead to Karaban, who saw pressure and pitched back to Mullins on the edge of the halfcourt March Madness logo. In rhythm, the rookie from Greenfield, Indiana fired from nearly 40 feet and caught nothing but nylon to give the Huskies a 73-72 lead. Duke's inbound heave with 0.4 to go was swatted away by Karaban and Connecticut cemented one of the great comebacks in March Madness history.

Inside The Numbers

  • UConn shot 43.8 percent (28-64) from the field and was a chilly 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from 3-point range, shooting 12-of-17 (70.8 percent) at the stripe
    • The Huskies started 1-of-18 from three before hitting four of their final five
    • After a 35.3 percent (12-34) first half, UConn shot 53.3 percent (16-30) in the second stanza
  • Conversely, Duke finished at 52.1 percent (25-48) from the field, 40.0 percent (6-15) from three and 72.7 percent (16-22) from the line
  • UConn matched its a season-low with five turnovers while forcing Duke into 13 and punishing the Blue Devils with a 20-7 edge in points off turnovers
    • The second half turnover margin was 8-1 in favor of the Huskies
    • In the second half, UConn dished out 11 assists against one turnover
  • The Huskies out-scored Duke 36-24 in the paint and 12-8 on fast breaks
  • UConn finished with an 8-6 edge in blocks, led by four from Reed Jr. 
    • Reed Jr.'s third block of the day was the 200th of his career

News and Notes

  • UConn improves to 5-6 all-time against Duke and 3-3 vs. the Blue Devils in the postseason with its third-straight March Madness win in the series
  • Connecticut is 76-33 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 8-6 all-time playing in the Elite Eight
  • UConn has won a staggering 18-straight games in the second weekend or later in the NCAA Tournament, a streak dating back to 2011
  • The Huskies have advanced to eight Final Fours: 1999, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2023, 2024 and 2026
  • Dan Hurley is 19-5 in the NCAA Tournament, 17-3 at Connecticut 
    • Hurley's .792 winning percentage in the Big Dance is third-best in the history of the tournament among coaches with 15 games, behind only Phil Woolpert and John Wooden
  • Karaban continued to etch his UConn legend
    • Extended his program records for wins (125), games played (149), starts (148) and minutes (4832) and 3-pointers (288)
    • Now sits at 1,854 points, 68 shy of Ray Allen for fifth in UConn history
    • Improves to 17-1 in the NCAA Tournament, the best record of any player in the modern seeding era 
  • Reed Jr. finished with 26 points and nine rebounds, to give him 87 points and 54 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament – the highest-scoring four-game scoring and rebounding span of his career
  • The Huskies improve to 4-9 all-time playing against the AP Top-25 No. 1 team
  • UConn is 34-6 on neutral floors since the start of 2022-23, best in the nation

Up Next

The Huskies head to Indianapolis to face three-seed Illinois, the champion of the South Region, in the Final Four at LucasOil Stadium on Saturday night.