WASHINGTON, D.C. — UConn defeated Duke 73-72 on Saturday night at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Freshman Braylon Mullins hit a three-point shot from well beyond the arc in the final seconds to complete a comeback from a 19-point first-half deficit.

Moments before the winning shot, Mullins and Silas Demary Jr. swarmed Duke guard Cayden Boozer in the final 10 seconds, and Mullins stole the ball. Alex Karaban then passed to Mullins, who launched the shot that ended Duke's season. On the final play, three Duke freshmen passed the ball quickly instead of attempting to draw a foul.

Before the game, No. 1 seeds had been 134-0 in NCAA Tournament games when leading by 15 or more points. Duke's loss made that record 134-1. The Huskies missed 17 of their first 18 three-point attempts before mounting their rally.

Connecticut senior Tarris Reed Jr. was named the game's Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and two steals. Reed scored 20 of UConn's 36 points in the paint. Redshirt senior Malachi Smith, a Dayton transfer, passed the ball to set up a Reed dunk, while Demary, a Georgia transfer, hit two three-pointers late in the game and helped force the turnover that led to Mullins's winning shot.

Cameron Boozer led Duke with 27 points and eight rebounds. The freshman, the son of two-time NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer and a probable top-five pick in the 2026 NBA draft, finished the game with a black eye. Duke had four underclassmen expected to be selected in the first round of that draft.

"I cost our team our season," Cayden Boozer said after the game. Duke coach Jon Scheyer said he was struggling to process his disbelief and urged reporters to look beyond the botched final play.

UConn coach Dan Hurley said, "We fought, we clawed, put ourselves in position to take advantage of a mistake that they made. And one of the most brilliant shooters you'll ever see shoot a basketball made an incredible, legendary March shot." Hurley also said, "Obviously that's an epic. Just another chapter in the UConn-Duke NCAA Tournament dramatics."

The two programs share a long postseason history. They first met in the NCAA Tournament in 1964, when Duke won by 47 points to advance to the Final Four. In 1990, Duke won a regional final on Christian Laettner's buzzer-beating shot. Duke eliminated UConn again in the 1991 Sweet 16. In 1999, UConn defeated Duke, then coached by Mike Krzyzewski, in the championship game in a matchup of two No. 1 seeds. UConn also defeated Duke in a 2004 semifinal game. On their way to the Elite Eight, both Duke and UConn eliminated teams coached by Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino.

Since 1990, UConn has won six men's basketball national championships and Duke has won five. No other school has won more than four in that span.