UConn men’s basketball is heading to the Final Four for the third time in four years. The last two times, the Huskies cruised through the first few rounds on their way to the national semifinals. This time, it took an incredible comeback effort and an improbable buzzer-beater to take down the Blue Devils in their Elite Eight matchup on Sunday, 72-70.
With the Huskies straining, down five with 1:31 left, Solo Ball hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut it to four. A Tarris Reed Jr. steal led to a Karaban three,
his first of the game, to cut the lead to one. The game hadn’t been that close since the Blue Devils led 4-2 at the 18:26 mark.
Cameron Boozer responded with a jumper to make it 72-69 with 28 seconds left. The shot clock was off, the Huskies had one more possession to make something happen.
Silas Demary Jr. drew a foul, going to the line for two. He missed the first and hit the second to make it 72-70 with 10 seconds left. Duke needed to just hold the ball for that final stretch. They broke through the Husky press, seemingly, until a deflection by Demary popped the ball into Mullins’ hands. He passed it to Karaban, who was fully covered, so the captain sent it back to the freshman, who heaved it up from about 40 feet away.
Swish.
With 0.4 seconds left, Duke sent a desperation heave down the court and it was deflected. After the Huskies took their first lead since the score was 2-0, Mullins’ three sent the Blue Devils packing and punched UConn’s ticket to the Final Four.
Cameron Boozer and the Duke blue-chippers were dominant early, hitting shots and dominating on the glass. They were up as much as 19 in the first half before a small run helped the Huskies cut it to 15 by halftime. Out of the break, UConn simply chipped away. Six minutes in, they had it down to 12. Three minutes later, they got it down to seven. A 7-0 run shortly after the 5:00-mark cut it down to two.
Duke put it back up to four before Karaban’s three at the 0:50-mark, his first of the game.
The Huskies have made the program’s eighth Final Four overall. They will face Illinois, a team they met at MSG in November, a 74-61 Husky win. They’ll tip off on Saturday at 6:09 p.m.
