Both feet at halfcourt, Mullins rose and fired — and it went in.
Inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday evening, two of college basketball's most decorated programs will meet under the brightest lights the sport offers. UConn, the East Regional champion and the second seed in the tournament at 33 wins and 5 losses, squares off against Illinois — the South Regional champion seeded third, carrying a 28-8 record — in the national semifinals. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:09 p.m., with the game airing on TBS.
For UConn, this is familiar territory, even if the path to get here was anything but easy. The Huskies are appearing in the Final Four for the eighth time in program history and the third time in the last four seasons — a stretch that has no precedent in the program's own history and has been matched by only three other schools since the year 2000: Kentucky between 2011 and 2015, UCLA from 2006 to 2008, and Michigan State from 1999 to 2001. Their record in national semifinals stands at 6-1, and they have never lost a national championship game, going a perfect 6-0 when they've reached the final.
The road to Indianapolis ran through Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., where UConn faced the highest possible seed in every round. They dispatched 15-seed Furman, 7-seed UCLA, and 3-seed Michigan State before arriving at the Elite Eight against Duke, the tournament's top overall seed. What followed was one of the more remarkable finishes in the tournament's long history.
UConn trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and went into the locker room down 15. The Huskies chipped away through the second half, but Duke still led by 10, 65-55, with just under seven minutes remaining. Then the dam broke. Back-to-back three-pointers from Silas Demary Jr. trimmed the deficit to seven. A three-point play by Solo Ball — a basket plus a free throw — brought UConn within a single possession for the first time since the opening minutes. With under a minute left and UConn down four, Alex Karaban hit his first three of the night to make it 70-69. Duke answered to go up three, but a drawn foul sent Demary Jr. to the line with 10 seconds left. He made one of two. On the inbound, Demary Jr. forced a steal that found Braylon Mullins with under five seconds to play. Mullins pushed it ahead to Karaban, who drew a double-team and kicked it back. Standing at the halfcourt logo, 37 feet from the basket, Mullins rose and fired. The shot went in. UConn won, 73-72.
The comeback was powered in large part by Tarris Reed Jr., who finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and four blocks — outplaying a floor full of projected NBA lottery picks and the presumptive national player of the year. Over the four regional games, Reed averaged 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game, becoming the first player in tournament history to average at least 20 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists across a four-game regional. He was named East Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Karaban, the team's captain, is now 17-1 in his NCAA Tournament career — the only player in the modern tournament era to win 17 games across an 18-game March Madness span. His 17 career tournament wins as a starter trail only Duke's Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner all-time. Through four tournament games he is averaging 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three. Mullins is averaging 11.8 points per game in the tournament, consistent with his 11.9 regular-season average that earned him BIG EAST All-Freshman honors. Demary Jr., working back from injury, remains the engine of UConn's top-10 defense — a first-team all-conference and all-defensive team selection who averages nearly six assists per game.
Illinois arrives in Indianapolis with the nation's top offensive efficiency rating according to KenPom and has outscored tournament opponents by an average of 19.5 points per game. Keaton Wagler leads the Illini at 17.9 points per game on the season and has been even sharper in the tournament, shooting 44 percent from three. Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, and Tomislav Ivisic are all averaging double figures in the tournament as well. Illinois has also dominated the glass, posting a plus-16.3 rebounding margin in the tournament and ranking third nationally in offensive rebounding rate at 39.5 percent. The Illini are making their first Final Four appearance since 2005.
The two programs have met five times all-time, with UConn holding a 4-1 edge. Their only prior tournament meeting came in the 2024 East Regional Final in Boston, where UConn routed Illinois 77-52 on the strength of a historic 30-0 run. They also met this season, with UConn winning 74-61 at Madison Square Garden on November 28. Saturday's winner advances to face either Michigan or Arizona — both one-seeds — in Monday's national championship game.
Notable Quotes
Reed finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and four blocks — the best player on a floor full of projected lottery picks.— UConn Athletics game notes
Karaban is the only player in the modern tournament era to win 17 games across an 18-game March Madness span.— UConn Athletics
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What makes this UConn run feel different from a typical deep tournament run?
It's the third time in four years they've been here. That kind of consistency is almost unheard of — only a handful of programs have done it since 2000.
The Duke comeback seems almost too dramatic to be real. What actually turned the game?
Tarris Reed Jr. was the engine. He was the best player on the floor by the end, and that floor had players projected to go in the lottery.
And then Mullins hits a 37-footer to win it. How do you even process that?
You don't, really. That's the kind of shot that gets replayed at halftimes for the next twenty years. It's already part of the tournament's mythology.
Karaban's tournament record is striking — 17 wins in 18 games. What does that say about him?
It says he's been on the right side of history more often than almost anyone who's ever played in March. Only two players in the modern era have more career tournament wins as a starter.
Illinois has the top offensive efficiency in the country. How does UConn match up with that?
It's a genuine test. Illinois has four players averaging double figures in the tournament and they've been destroying opponents on the glass. UConn's defense has been elite all year, but this is a different kind of challenge.
Illinois hasn't been to a Final Four since 2005. Does that matter?
Experience matters in these moments, but Illinois got here by beating Houston and VCU and Penn — they've earned it. The drought doesn't make them fragile.
What's the thing beneath the thing in this matchup?
Rebounding. Illinois is plus-16 on the boards in the tournament. If UConn lets them turn misses into second chances, the Illini's offensive efficiency becomes even harder to contain.