Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
By Matt Clapp on

The Connecticut Huskies are going to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons, and the way they made it happen in the 2026 NCAA Tournament was the most stunning yet.

Dan Hurley’s UConn squad overcame a 19-point deficit to the tournament’s top-seeded Duke Blue Devils to emerge with a 73-72 victory in Sunday’s Elite Eight action.

And the go-ahead bucket was particularly amazing.

The Huskies’ Silas Demary Jr. made the second of two free-throw attempts to cut Duke’s lead to 72-70 with 10 seconds remaining. UConn then got a steal near half-court before Braylon Mullins nailed what would serve as the game-winning three from the logo with 0.3 left on the clock.

Here’s how the final two possessions looked and sounded on the CBS television broadcast, with the top March Madness team of Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, and Grant Hill on the call:

Eagle: “Boozer… THAT BALL DEFLECTED AND STOLEN BY MULLINS! KARABAN, TWO SECONDS! MULLINS, TOSSES IT UP! OOOOH! IT’S GOOD! WITH 0.3, UCONN GOES IN FRONT!

Raftery: “UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!”

Eagle: “MARCH MEANS DRAMA!”

Raftery: “OOH HOO! THE DEFLECTION! THE REACTION! AND THEN THE MAJOR ONIONS! OUT OF INDIANA, THEY ALL CAN SHOOT! NYLON! FROM DEEP! ASTOUNDING!

Hill: “The freshman, Braylon Mullins! What a play! All Duke had to do was hold the ball there! They didn’t need to get rid of it!”

Eagle: “UCONN STILL HAS THE MARCH MAGIC! THE HUSKIES ARE ONCE AGAIN GOING TO THE FINAL FOUR! THIS WAS UTTERLY AMAZING TO COME BACK AND WIN THIS ONE, 73-72! A MARCH HERO IS BORN, AND IT’S BRAYLON MULLINS!”

Here’s how the Duke radio call sounded when Mullins nailed the go-ahead triple, with David Shumate on the call:

Shumate: “Seven seconds, tried to throw it ahead, deflected! Stolen by Connecticut! Two seconds! IT’S MULLINS UP TOP FOR THE WIN! Oh, he hit it, with three-tenths of a second to go! MALACHI SMITH RAN OFF THE BENCH! That should be a technical, but with three-tenths of a second to go, Connecticut has the lead, 73-72.”

As for the winning side, Mike Crispino had the UConn radio, and he understandably went crazy:

Crispino: “Boozer, AND A STEAL! MULLINS GETS IT! IT’S KARABAN TO MULLINS, LONG-RANGE THREE! OOOOOH! IT WENT IN! MULLINS DELIVERS! BEDLAM! BEDLAM HERE!.. ABSOLUTE BEDLAM AS MULLINS THREW A 45-FOOTER IN!”

Scott Graham had the national radio call for Westwood One:

Graham: “AND UCONN GOT A STEAL! Karaban, for Mullins. Long three, HE GOT IT! OH, HE GOT IT! HE HIT IT! HE HIT THE LONG THREE-POINTER FROM THE LOGO! WITH THREE-TENTHS OF A SECOND LEFT TO GO! I DON’T BELIEVE IT! UCONN HAS TAKEN THE LEAD WITH THREE-TENTHS OF A SECOND LEFT TO GO IN A MAD SCRAMBLE OFF A STEAL, BRAYLON MULLINS NAILS THE THREE-POINTER! AND THE UCONN HUSKIES ARE THREE-TENTHS OF A SECOND AWAY FROM A TRIP BACK TO THE FINAL FOUR! UNBELIEVABLE!”

UConn will look to keep the magic going vs. Illinois in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Matt Clapp