UConn stuns Duke on buzzer-beating 3-pointer to reach NCAA Tournament Final Four
WASHINGTON, D.C.
It was the kind of ending that was unexpected, exciting, so shockingly sudden. Duke had the ball and the lead over Connecticut with time running out Sunday in the NCAA East Region final at Capital One Arena. The Blue Devils were ever-so-close to returning to the Final Four. Just one pass away. Instead, UConn will be going to Indianapolis. The Huskies pulled out a pulsating 73-72 victory over the top-seeded Blue Devils on a play that will be replayed in the minds of both teams — and all who saw it.
Braylon Mullins’ long 3-pointer with less than a second left had the arena rumbling and UConn in the lead after a long climb back against the Devils. It came after a turnover by Duke’s Cayden Boozer near midcourt, Boozer being double-teamed by Mullins and Silas Demary Jr. and having his attempted pass knocked down.
Mullins, taking a pass from Alex Karaban, then let it fly from the “March Madness” logo, 30 feet away.
“When I saw him release it, I was like, that really might go in,” Karaban said. “It went in, and the Indiana kid sent us to Indianapolis.”
Said UConn coach Dan Hurley: “An incredible, legendary March shot.”
Duke had just four-tenths of a second left, and a long pass was batted away.
Game over.
For Duke, season over.
“I could not be more disappointed and feeling for our guys,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I don’t have the words. I don’t have the words.
“I’m incredibly sorry for these guys that they’ve got to go through this. This is on us. We’re going to be in this together. I don’t have words other than just how proud I am of these guys.”
The final moments were tense, the pressure building.
UConn, in comeback mode most of the game, had pulled within 70-69 on a 3-pointer by Karaban with 50 seconds to play. But Cam Boozer then countered with an inside basket with 28.9 seconds showing.
Demary, a Raleigh native, was fouled by Cam Boozer with 10 seconds left. He missed the first of two free throws, then made the second, setting up Duke’s final possession — and final turnover.
“But it’s not about one play,” Duke’s Dame Sarr said. “It’s about the game. It’s about the team.”
Cam Boozer, in what surely was his last game at Duke, had 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The freshman, the ACC player of the year, also took an inadvertent elbow to the face late in the first half and was left with a black eye and swelling around the right cheek after the game.
Cayden Boozer, after a 13-point first half, finished with 15, and Isaiah Evans, who had 25 points in beating St. John’s on Friday, was limited to six shots and seven points.
“It’s a terrible feeling,” Boozer said of the loss. “These guys have given so much. We had guys who had surgery and back, players playing through injuries. I wish we could have figured it out and finished the job for them.”
UConn got 26 points from bullish senior Tarris Reed Jr., rallying from a 19-point first-half deficit for the win.
“Obviously that’s an epic, just another chapter in the UConn-Duke NCAA Tournament dramatics,” Hurley said. “Obviously a really tough way for their season to end. I thought they played great. I thought they punched us in the mouth with incredible force. We fought, we clawed, put ourselves in position to take advantage of a mistake that they made.”
UConn in comeback mode
Duke (35-3) combined clawing defense and a 14-point run in the opening half to open a 40-21 cushion and led by 15 points at halftime.
The spurt began with a Cayden Boozer steal and Nikolas Khamenia fastbreak layup. Add in a 3-pointer from Sarr and seven free throws by Cam Boozer and Duke had the Huskies showing signs of frustration.
The Duke lead was 50-33 in the second half when Mullins, a freshman guard, converted a 3-point play after an Evans foul. That appeared to give the Huskies a little spark.
The intensity level began to rise as the Huskies began playing with added desperation and Duke began forcing a few shots and committing turnovers — the Devils had eight in the second half that resulted in 16 UConn points. The Duke lead began to shrink.
“We just gave them easy baskets,” Scheyer said. “We just had to secure the ball better, and that’s a recipe to put yourself in that position. That was the big difference in the game, obviously.”
Reed continued to score inside and suddenly the Duke lead was 56-49 — after a Reed slam — and the Devils had to order up a timeout with 10:59 left. Cam Boozer followed with an inside basket, but there was a lot of basketball left.
When Demary knocked down consecutive 3’s, the Huskies were within 65-58 with 6:06 remaining. Hurley called a timeout, then walked out on the court waving his arms, asking for more noise from UConn fans — and getting it.
The Huskies kept coming, with an Evans turnover leading to a 3-point play by UConn’s Solo Ball with 3:42 showing that that made it a 67-65 game.
Gut check time for Duke.
Cam Boozer scored inside. After a Duke miss, the Devils forced a shot-clock violation and Pat Ngongba, fouled intentionally, make the first of a one-and-one at the line. But it was not enough.
Duke dominates first half
Duke was the dominant team on both ends of the floor in the opening half, taking a 44-29 lead despite botching its final two possessions of the period. Cameron Boozer had 14 points and Cayden Boozer 13 for the Devils.
Reed was a handful early for the Huskies, using his size to muscle in shots. Scheyer quickly turned to Pat Ngongba to go big on big — Reed listed at 6-11 and 265 pounds, Ngongba at 6-11 and 250 — and give Reed more resistance in the paint.
UConn’s offense is one of constant motion and cuts, forcing the Devils to keep up. But they did, using their positional size to quickly challenge shots — UConn was 1-of-11 on 3’s in the opening half.
Reed had 12 points off 10 shots in the first half but the Devils cranked up their transition game and shot 51.7% from the field, knocking down five of their 11 shots from the arc.
UConn was called for 10 personal fouls in the opening half, causing Hurley to madly gyrate on the sideline and harp at the refs. Duke had four fouls in the half, something Hurley surely noticed.
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