WASHINGTON, D.C. — There are historic moments in sports and then there is what took place Sunday night at Capital One Arena.
In the East Regional Final, an Elite Eight classic between No. 2 UConn and No. 1 Duke, surpassing any and all expectations coming into it—and on the 27th anniversary of UConn’s 1999 National Championship upset 77-74 win over the very same program, the Huskies’ first-of-six all-time championship titles—the Blue Devils were seconds away from punching their ticket to the 2026 Final Four, up 72-70.
Then, on a sudden inbound pass gone wrong with ten seconds remaining, which all started from Duke’s Dame Sarr to Cameron Boozer back to Sarr and finally to Cameron’s twin brother, Cayden Boozer, UConn earned themselves one last opportunity.
One final chance to pull off a 19-point comeback for the ages.
And ultimately, one last attempt in trying to Duke out the Blue Devils.
As UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. deflected Cayden’s pass, his Huskie teammate Braylon Mullins found himself holding the ball at half court with just five seconds left. The 19-year-old freshman guard quickly handed it out to Alex Karaban who sent it right back to the native of Indiana—where the Final Four will be played this Saturday, April 4th—and from there, bedlam in Washington, D.C.
Utter and complete bedlam.
Launching a three-pointer inches to the right of the March Madness logo stamped at the center of the court as the arena became silent while the ball soared through the air, Mullins swooshed the basket from deep, lifting the Huskies up, 73-72.
Those stationed in the press box of Capital One Arena were just as stunned as the 19,502 fans in attendance. The same could be said for each and every player, coach, media member located courtside, security guard and merchandise/food vendor in the building. Stunned.
“When we were on defense, I was just trying to make a play on the ball,” said Mullins of the historic shot to send UConn to the Final Four.
“I think Silas made the deflection and the ball just ended up landing in my hands. I knew AK (Alex Karaban) was to my right and threw the ball ahead. I knew he just hit one, thought he was going to shoot it. He looked at the rim and just tossed the ball back to me and I knew there was four seconds left on the clock. So you gotta put one up. It’s better to put one shot up than not get the shot off at all.”
UConn freshman forward Braylon Mullins had the 2026 East Regional championship trophy stationed by his locker during Sunday night’s Elite Eight postgame media availability – Image Credit: Latino Sports
Before his last-second heroics to take down Duke, the Blue Devils’ third loss of the 2025-2026 season and second since the calendar flipped over to 2026, finishing at 35-3—Mullins was, as he said himself, “off,” shooting 3-9 from the field, including a 0-4 three-point clip, with seven points.
His next three, the deciding points of the game, got him back to his home state, growing up in Greenfield, Indiana, and secured UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies with the program’s third Final Four appearance in the last four years (2023, 2024 and 2026).
“That gym (Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts) that we’re playing in is thirty minutes away from my house, so that’s all you dream about,” Mullins said.
“The young man (Mullins), he’s just a rare human being,” added the 53-year-old Hurley, a two-time National Champion at UConn in 2023 and 2024.
“The toughness about him. To take the shot on a tough shooting night but he was due.”
What The Huskies Had To Say About Mullins’ March Magic
“At halftime—coach said, ‘we’ve got to swing for the fences. We’ve got to give it all we’ve got.’ We were coming out of halftime down 15 or whatever it was (44-29), going down and giving it our all. Keep chipping away, keep chipping away at the lead. Then we get it back, and the rest is history. This guy hit the freakin’ game winner.” -senior center Tarris Reed Jr. (26 points, nine rebounds, three assists)
“For him to make that shot for us to play in the Final Four in Indianapolis, I couldn’t be happier for him. He’s unbelievable. He’s a mature freshman and he’s such a special player and I think the world of him. He’s not going to change just because that shot went in, he’s just going to be the same Braylon Mullins.” -redshirt senior forward Alex Karaban (five points, three rebounds, three assists)
“I just jumped in the air, it was crazy. That was the best shot I have ever seen.” -junior guard Solo Ball (10 points, two rebounds, two assists)
Sunday’s Elite Eight in Washington, D.C., lived up to the billing and some as No. 2 UConn-No. 1 Duke at Capital One Arena was decided on a Braylon Mullins three-point bucket from deep with four seconds remaining – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
“When Mullins made that shot, I ran over there and jumped on him. I don’t even know. I ran over there and jumped on him, that was crazy.” -redshirt senior guard Malachi Smith (nine points, two assists)
“It’s scary, man. It’s like what the—because Duke is so good defensively, it just felt like you’re almost—you’re watching Alex and seeing kind of like, as Braylon’s catching the ball, does he look like he’s in some type of a rhythm? Does he look like he’s going to kind of rip drive it? You’re torn right there, and you’re almost like—and you’re just, it’s instincts. It’s gut instinct. But I think with their size, their length, their ability to switch everything, it just felt like the window where you’ve just got to let March Madness take over, March Magic.” -head coach Dan Hurley
“That gym (Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts) that we’re playing in is thirty minutes away from my house, so that’s all you dream about.” -freshman forward Braylon Mullins (10 points, one rebound)
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