Mullins’ 35‑ft miracle
Freshman Braylon Mullins hit a 35‑foot buzzer‑beating 3 to send UConn to the Final Four, capping a second‑half comeback and instantly reviving a Laettner‑revenge narrative. The shot is already being replayed as one of the tournament’s classic endings. (youtube.com)
Duke’s final possession unraveled when a tipped inbounds pass by Cayden Boozer turned into a turnover that handed UConn the ball with fractions of a second remaining. (sbnation.com) (sbnation.com) Alex Karaban—who had earlier forwent an “okay look”—created the last opportunity by keeping possession and then finding Mullins on the catch-and-shoot sequence that decided the game. (sports.yahoo.com) (sports.yahoo.com) UConn erased a 19-point deficit to win 73-72, ending Duke’s run and leaving the Blue Devils with a 35-3 season record. (nbcsports.com) (nbcsports.com) Pundits immediately linked the finish to Christian Laettner’s tournament-era finishes—noting that Mullins’ moment came 36 years after Laettner’s overtime winner against UConn in 1990 and sits beside Laettner’s more widely remembered 1992 “The Shot.” (abc11.com) (abc11.com) Former Duke star Grant Hill called it “the new Laettner moment,” and analysts from ESPN and CBS highlighted the way the final sequence mirrored classic March chaos in both pressure and improbability. (nytimes.com) (nytimes.com) UConn’s reward is a national‑semifinal date with Illinois at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on April 4, a venue that puts freshman Mullins back near his Indiana hometown of Greenfield. (ncaa.com) (ncaa.com)
