When the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies (33-5, 17-3 BIG EAST) and the Duke University Blue Devils (35-3, 17-1 ACC) faced off in the NCAA Men’s East Regional Elite Eight on Sunday night, neither team needed an introduction. Both had powered through their Sweet Sixteen matchups with something to prove, and their coaches—Dan Hurley for UConn and Jon Scheyer for Duke—spent the better part of the week exchanging pleasantries through the media before letting their players do the real talking.
What followed was 40 minutes of basketball that swung so wildly in favor of Duke, yet ended in UConn’s victory, feeling as though two entirely separate games had been played.
The matchup added to a historical legacy that had been shaped long before the opening tip. Duke and UConn’s men’s basketball teams had met 10 times previously, with Duke holding a 6–4 edge. Five of those meetings came in the postseason: Duke won in the 1964, 1990, and 1991 tournaments, while UConn won in 1999 and in the 2004 Final Four. The most recent game between the two schools was in 2014, making this game the first meeting between Hurley and Scheyer.
Sunday’s contest was also played on the 27th anniversary of UConn’s 77–74 upset of Duke in the 1999 National Championship, the program’s first of six titles.
Played in front of 19,502 fans, the game delivered one of the greatest finishes in NCAA Tournament history. With under ten seconds remaining, UConn freshman guard Braylon Mullins launched a three from well beyond the line to seal a 73–72 victory after the Blue Devils had led by 19 points in the first half. In NCAA Tournament history, No. 1 seeds had been 134–0 when leading by 15 or more points. That record now stands at 134–1.
“Obviously that’s an epic,” Hurley said in a postgame press conference. “Just another chapter in the UConn-Duke NCAA Tournament dramatics.”
In an era where some speculate the historic “blue bloods” are losing their grip on the sport, UConn is showing they are still a top dog in college basketball.
“You have as good a chance to win as a non-blue blood, maybe even a better chance, because you don’t have the pressure and the expectations or the burden of the jersey or the logo,” Hurley said in a pregame interview earlier in the week.
How it happened:
UConn senior center Tarris Reed Jr. had the first points of the game, a pair of free throws that gave the Huskies the largest lead they would have all game. However, Duke dominated the first half, as freshman guard Dame Sarr scored the first points for Duke.
Blue Devils freshman forward Cameron Boozer followed with a fast-break finger roll after a steal by his brother, freshman guard Cayden Boozer, giving the Blue Devils their first lead, 4-2. Sophomore guard Isaiah Evans made the first three-pointer of the game, extending Duke’s early lead to 7-2 less than three minutes into the game, setting the tone for the remainder of the half.
Duke continued to press UConn’s defense. With under 14 minutes in the half, Cayden Boozer hit a three that gave Duke their first double- digit lead at 22-12. UConn slowly cut the lead to six after a pair of layups from Reed Jr., but were held scoreless for three minutes as the Blue Devils retained their lead.
With less than 10 minutes in the half, UConn broke through with a three-pointer from redshirt senior guard Malachi Smith and a bucket from junior guard Silas Demary Jr., cutting the lead to five. Following a steal from Cayden Boozer, a shot from Duke freshman guard Nikolas Khamenia brought the score to 28-21.
Cameron Boozer from the arc by Anna Cordova
After a series of missed shots and turnovers from UConn, Duke spent the next four minutes dominating both ends of the court. By forcing poor shot selection and converting steals, they racked up a 14-0 run to take a 40-21 lead with five minutes left in the half.
Cameron Boozer attacked the paint relentlessly, drawing fouls and converting at the rim, as Duke built their 19-point lead. The Huskies, shooting a dismal 9% from three in the first half and being sloppy with the ball, looked nothing like the program that had won back-to-back National Championships in 2023 and 2024.
At halftime, the score was 44-29, but given UConn’s performance, Duke’s lead felt insurmountable. Hurley and the Huskies refused to give in.
Hurley’s halftime speech must have been magical because UConn came out of the locker room with a brand new fire. The fuel for that fire was Reed Jr., whose performance only improved as each minute went by in the second half. His footwork and shot selection overcame the strength of Duke big men Cameron Boozer and sophomore center Patrick Ngongba II as he scored 20 of UConn’s 36 points in the paint. Reed Jr. balanced strength and physicality to stay out of foul trouble and limit Duke’s scoring in the second half.
UConn began chipping away at Duke’s lead, one shot at a time. Down 55-41 with 13:09 to play, Reed Jr. scored before converting a steal to cut the lead to 10. After Reed Jr. found Karaban for a bucket, he scored again on a put-back and forced a Duke timeout with the Huskies within 56-49 and 10:59 to play.
With 7:00 to play, Demary Jr. took UConn’s first successful 3-pointer of the second half after an 0-7 start and cut the lead back to seven. Less than a minute later, Demary Jr. hit a second three, which kicked off a 10-2 run that included a pair of buckets each from Reed Jr. and junior guard Solo Ball, finished by a three-point play for Ball that cut Duke’s lead to 67-65 with 3:42 to play.
Alex Karaban, who had a surprisingly quiet night with only 5 points the whole game, hit a massive three for the Huskies with under a minute left to make it a one-point game at 70-69. Cameron Boozer refused to let up and responded with a strong drive to the basket with just 30 seconds left, bringing the score to 72-69. The Blue Devils intentionally fouled UConn’s Silas Demary Jr., who went 1-2 on free throws. Then, an errant pass from Cayden Boozer landed into the hands of UConn’s Braylon Mullins, who quickly dished it out to Karaban with 3 seconds left. Karaban, heavily guarded, passed up on the game-winning shot. He sent the ball back to Mullins. When Mullins shot it from the logo, the stadium froze.
What ensued was complete chaos. Blue Devil fans dropped to their knees, while UConn fans leaped into each other’s arms in disbelief. Dan Hurley, with his jacket hanging off one shoulder, celebrated his team’s first lead since the opening minute of the game. Mullins had made the shot. Duke had 0.4 seconds left on the clock, but the Huskies held on, winning 73-72 in one of the most memorable games in tournament history.
Duke, a program with some of the top underclassmen in the country—four of whom are expected to be selected in the first round of June’s NBA draft, including the Boozer twins, has fallen again. Last year, the Blue Devils blew a seven-point lead with 1:15 left in the Final Four against the University of Houston.
Their performance raises questions about the importance of experience for teams that continuously have young starting fives. Duke is perennially ranked among the top teams in the NCAA, but it struggles to convert in the postseason.
In a postgame press conference, Duke coach Jon Scheyer said he was trying to process his disbelief. “I’m incredibly sorry for these guys that they’ve got to go through this,” Scheyer said. “This is on us.”
Cayden Boozer struggled to discuss the end at all. “I cost our team our season,” he said.
On the other side, UConn pointed to the resilience that fueled the comeback.
“We fought, we clawed, put ourselves in position to take advantage of a mistake that they made,” Hurley said. “And one of the most brilliant shooters you’ll ever see shoot a basketball made an incredible, legendary March shot.”
With cheers from the Husky audience, Mullins slammed the UConn plaque on the bracket, officially signaling their path forward to the Championship.
Sunday’s win puts UConn one game closer to the National Championship, where, if they win, Alex Karaban would become the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his UCLA teammates in the 1960s to win three titles.
“I’m playing the most confident I’ve played in my entire career,” Karaban said in a pregame interview.
Confetti rained down on the team as Reed Jr. began to sing a UConn fight song, bringing the crowd in on “welcome to the dog house.” Reed Jr. was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and two steals, a performance that sealed UConn’s remarkable victory.
The result is another reminder of how thin margins are in college basketball. A 19-point lead, a single turnover, and one shot from near half court were enough to decide who keeps playing and who goes home.
It also speaks to how the sport is changing. The idea that only a handful of traditional blue-blood programs control March feels less certain each year. UConn’s run — and wins like this — show how quickly power can shift in the modern era of the transfer portal due to player movement and roster turnover.
For Georgetown fans, UConn’s win carries extra significance. Conference success in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament translates into national relevance that can benefit every conference team. In a year when critics pointed to the conference’s limited visibility in the tournament, having one of its flagship programs thriving deep into March offers a reminder that the BIG EAST can still hang with the sport’s power conferences.
For UConn, the comeback keeps a potential dynasty alive and sends the program back to the Final Four again. For Duke, it’s another reminder of how unforgiving the tournament and men’s basketball can really be.
