UConn men’s basketball is back in the Final Four for the third time in four years thanks to an all-time shot from freshman Braylon Mullins. After Silas Demary Jr. forced a deflection on Duke’s attempted press break, Mullins received a pass from Alex Karaban and drilled a 40-footer with 0.3 seconds remaining to send the Huskies to their eighth Final Four.
The shot from Mullins, an Indiana kid, sealed UConn’s trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis,
where the Huskies will take on 2-seed Illinois on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. UConn and Illini already faced off this season at Madison Square Garden on Black Friday, where the Huskies cruised to a 74-61 win over Brad Underwood’s squad.
Despite that data point and UConn’s recent March momentum, the Huskies head to Indianapolis as underdogs. FanDuel has the Illini as a 2.5-point favorite over UConn, with the Huskies’ moneyline odds set at +112. The over/under for the game is set at 139.5.
Of course, a lot has changed since then for both teams. Tarris Reed played sparingly in that game after suffering an ankle injury in the win over BYU. Mullins made his collegiate debut in that game off the bench and played just 10 minutes. Malachi Smith hit what was up until Sunday UConn’s most improbable three of the season.
For Illinois, star freshman Keaton Wagler was a non-factor against UConn, scoring three points in 14 minutes. Kylan Boswell was the go-to guy for the Illini, dicing the Huskies’ defense for 25 points.
While UConn is a slight underdog early in the week, the Huskies cut their title odds dramatically after taking down No. 1 overall seed Duke. UConn’s title odds are down to +650 at FanDuel now that the Huskies are Indianapolis bound, down from +1100 prior to tip against the Blue Devils.
