UConn men’s basketball (32-5) will look to get punch its ticket to a third Final Four in the past four seasons as the Huskies are set to take on 1-seed Duke (35-2) in the Elite Eight on Sunday evening at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Blue Devils finished as the double champ in the ACC, winning the regular season and conference tournament titles. Their lone losses this year came to Texas Tech and North Carolina, marking this year the first time this century that Duke will end a year with
three or fewer overall losses. After getting to the Final Four last season, Jon Scheyer has built a core surrounded by national player of the year Cameron Boozer that looks poised to get back there. Duke beat St. John’s in the Sweet 16 80-75 to move on on Friday. The Blue Devils rank third in KenPom with the No. 6 offense and No. 2 defense.
The Huskies sit at No. 10 in KenPom and knocked off Michigan State 67-63 on Friday behind big nights once again from both Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban. Dan Hurley and Karaban have guided UConn to a 16-1 record in the NCAA Tournament the past four seasons, by far the most wins by any program during that time. Against the Spartans, the Huskies used a big 25-6 run to start the game to build up a big lead and, while they did see it go away, were able to hold on and get the win.
The past five times that UConn has advanced to the Elite Eight, it has moved on to the Final Four. The last time that a second weekend appearance didn’t end with the Huskies cutting down the nets to move on was in 2006 against George Mason. Can the Huskies keep the streak alive?
Should UConn advance, they’d face either Illinois or Iowa in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Date/Time: Sunday, March 29, 2026, 5:05 p.m.
TV/Stream: CBS, March Madness app
Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 201, Sirius/XM online streaming
Odds: Duke -5.5, over/under 134.5
Location: Capital One Arena — Washington, DC
KenPom Predicted Score: Duke 71, UConn 66 — 30% win probability
Series History
The Huskies and Blue Devils have played nine times with Duke owning a slim 5-4 advantage. They’ve played four times in the NCAA Tournament, splitting 2-2 with Duke winning in the 1990 Elite Eight and 1991 Sweet 16 and UConn winning in the 1999 National Championship and 2004 Final Four. The last time the two teams played, Duke knocked off UConn in the 2014-15 season 66-56 at a neutral site game in the Meadowlands. Ryan Boatright scored 22 points and Kentan Facey chipped in 14.
Availability report
As of Friday night’s win over Michigan State, everyone was available. The injury report comes out at 9 p.m. the day before the game. The next one comes out two hours before game time as the NCAA has mandated the injury reports during the postseason.
What to Watch For
Grab your popcorn
UConn. Duke. A trip to the Final Four on the line.
That alone should get you pumped up. Two of the greatest programs in the history of the sport with so much tradition behind them battling it out for the right to add to their blue blood resumes with another Final Four appearance. Dan Hurley and Jon Scheyer, two coaches who in the eyes of opponents are quickly becoming two of the top “villains” in all of college basketball. Two teams that have combined to appear in the last four Final Fours dating back to 2022, a streak that will be increased to five.
“I think you look at where programs in the last 30 years have had a high level of dominance in this sport, since the ’90s UConn and Duke have been the two best college basketball programs on the men’s side,” Hurley said. “So it’s a pretty cool matchup.”
The game itself should be cinema as well. The national player of the year going toe-to-toe with one of the winningest players in the history of this event. A freshmen-led team that has had one of its best years in school history against a senior-led team with all of the experience you could ask for.
Here’s to hoping what transpires on Sunday afternoon in our nation’s capital even comes close to the hype surrounding it. Knowing these two programs, it definitely will.
Back on track
Braylon Mullins and Solo Ball combined to shoot 3-25 from beyond the arc in the first and second round games in Philadelphia, a number that once you hear makes you think twice how UConn was able to survive both games with their star perimeter players so cold. The biggest point of emphasis entering the second weekend for the Huskies was the play from these two stars, and they answered the call.
“He (Reed) just makes it so much easier for shooters on the outside, me, AK, Braylon, and all the perimeter guys that are able to shoot as well,” Ball said after the win Friday. “It was a great feeling to have that going for sure.”
Ball credits Reed’s ball-screen ability to allow the shooters to get more space, as was evident against the Spartans. Ball and Mullins combined to go 4-10 from three, making more triples in one game as a duo than they did in the previous two. Against Duke, UConn needs both of their star shooters to be on their A-game if they want to have a chance to win. The Huskies can’t afford to allow the Blue Devils to get in transition off of missed shots, so every field goal attempt counts.
Point guard health
Both teams are dealing with some banged up point guards that are dealing with lower body injuries. Silas Demary Jr. has played the past two games for UConn, but hasn’t looked as sharp as he has in the past as he’s clearly trying to work through an ankle sprain that he suffered in the Big East Championship game against St. John’s. Demary played 23 minutes against Michigan State, but didn’t look like himself on either end of the floor.
Caleb Foster is in a similar spot for Duke. Breaking his foot in the regular season finale, Foster had surgery on it and miraculously returned to action on Friday less than three weeks later, playing 19 minutes and scoring 11 points against the Red Storm.
In their absences, each side has had a reserve guard step up and become more of a high impact player. For UConn, Malachi Smith is stringing together his best stretch of games since early in the non-conference slate, most recently dishing seven assists and grabbed four steals. For Duke, Cayden Boozer has been on another level in the tournament. He’s averaged 11.7 points per game in three games and has 13 assists as well. Each of these usual-reserve guards have shined in larger opportunities and garnered valuable experience for the games ahead.
Frontcourt battle
Tarris Reed Jr. and Cameron Boozer are two of the top frontcourt players left in the tournament, each dominating through the tournament to will their teams to the Elite Eight. Reed has averaged 20.3 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists per game so far in March Madness, but Boozer is right there with him with at 21 PPG, 11.3 RPG and 3.3 APG. Each of them has been dominant on the low block, finishing through contact and getting to the foul line.
“That’s what this time of year is all about,” Hurley said about having a veteran leader such as Reed. “You’ve got to have great upperclassmen. You have to have great juniors, great seniors, veteran players that are not going to blink and just can handle the pressure of the moment and also can bounce back.”
UConn hasn’t seen a player as dynamic on the offensive end as Boozer is in terms of ability to handle the ball on the perimeter as well as post up inside. The Huskies have seen their fair share of high value prospects this year like AJ Dybantsa, Keaton Wagler and Koa Peat, but Boozer has an edge to him that has allowed him to have a better year than all of them.
The biggest key for Reed is to stay out of foul trouble. Boozer and the other bigs Maliq Brown and Patrick Ngongba are going to be centerpieces of Duke’s offense for the full 40 minutes, so if Reed has to be on the bench for an extended period, that could be the difference in a close game.
Crash the glass
In the win over Michigan State, UConn was an uncharacteristic -9 on the glass, getting outrebounded 39-30. Hurley and the players mention often that whoever wins the rebound battle usually ends up winning the game, so it was impressive to see the Huskies pull it out despite the differential.
Get outrebounded by nine against Duke and it would probably be a different story. The Blue Devils average over 40 rebounds per game with Cam Boozer leading the way with 10.3. Both Brown and Ngongba rebound at a good rate at the center position, and Isaiah Evans, Foster and Dame Sarr are all excellent rebounders for guards. Especially with how much emphasis Duke puts on the paint (40 PIP against St. John’s), having the Husky perimeter players crash on a shot is crucial to avoid second chance opportunities for one of the best teams in the nation.
