March Madness: UConn reaches Final Four with stunning last-second victory

This is why it is called March Madness.

Braylon Mullins hit a 3-pointer from 35 feet with 0.4 seconds left to play on Sunday, lifting the University of Connecticut to a stunning 73-72 victory against East Region No. 1 seed Duke and its third berth in the men’s basketball Final Four in four years.

Second-seeded UConn (33-5) joins region top seeds Arizona and Michigan and No. 3 seed Illinois in the Final Four, which begins Saturday in Indianapolis.

The Huskies will face the Illini (28-8), a 71-59 winner against Iowa (24-13). Arizona (36-2), which earned a 79-64 win against Purdue (30-9), will face off against Michigan (35-3), which breezed to a 95-62 win against Tennessee (25-12).

The winners of both games Saturday will return to the court on April 6 to play for the national title.

UConn will try to become the first team since the UCLA dynasty of the 1970s to win the men’s national title three times in four years, ESPN reported.

That was made possible by a defensive gem and the freshman guard’s deadly 3-point shot that followed.

“I don’t have the words,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I don’t have the words.”

UConn trailed by 19 points at one point, but the Huskies pecked away at the deficit.

After Silas Demary Jr.’s free throw cut Duke’s lead to 72-70 with 10 seconds left in regulation, he got a hand on Cameron Boozer’s pass and Mullins gained possession of the basketball near midcourt. He passed to senior Alex Karaban, who passed it back to Mullins, who was standing between the key and the halfcourt stripe.

Mullins, who had missed his four previous 3-point attempts on Sunday and was 4-for-23 during the entire tournament, made his final 3-point attempt, and the Huskies were back in the Final Four.

“You never get to practice those type of shots,” Mullins, who was the 2025 winner of “Mr. Basketball” high school honors in Indiana, told reporters, according to The Athletic. “And I think those shots just come around.

“Now, just being cemented in history is just a crazy, crazy feeling.”

“The Indiana kid sent us to Indianapolis,” Karaban said.

Arizona opened as 1 1/2-point underdogs to Michigan in a matchup of No. 1 seeds in one semifinal, The Associated Press reported. Illinois is favored by the same number against UConn.

Illinois will try to reach its first title game since 2005, when it lost to North Carolina for the championship, the AP reported.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “I’ve never doubted us getting to a Final Four would happen. I have thought we have had other teams capable. But I also know how doggone hard it is to do it.”

Michigan advanced to its first Final Four since 2018 and ninth overall.

Yaxel Lendeborg scored 27 points. According to the AP, he became the first Michigan player to score at least 23 points in three straight NCAA Tournament games since Juwan Howard did it in four straight contests in 1994.

Arizona reached its first Final Four in 25 years, the AP reported.

Freshman Koa Peat scored 20 points and Arizona’s defense stymied Purdue in Saturday’s West Region final.

“Just being a kid from Arizona, to take this team to a Final Four, man, it’s a blessing,” Peat said. “I’m proud of these guys. We worked for this. We’re not done yet.”

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