– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — After the latest heart-stopping, death-defying episode in the UConn vs. Duke NCAA Tournament saga, Huskies coach Dan Hurley finally saw words that he uttered to his team since the start of the season come to fruition in the most vivid — and dramatic — way possible.
“Victory is measured in inches, not miles.” And boy, was Hurley not kidding with those words of wisdom.
The inches making up the tips of Silas Demary Jr.’s fingertips started a miraculous chain of events, and the three-point splash from what seemed like miles away from Braylon Mullins just a couple of seconds later officially came to the measurement that confirmed one of the greatest finishes in the history of the NCAA Tournament brought the Huskies a chance at more championship glory — while dooming Duke to more NCAA Tournament heartbreak in the nation’s capital.
Down for almost the entire game, second-seeded UConn completed its historic comeback with Mullins’ 35-foot three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining as the Huskies, down by 19 points with less than four minutes remaining in the first half, stunned No. 1 Duke 73-72 inside Capital One Arena to win the East Region and advance to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
Tarris Reed Jr., playing through foul trouble, scored 26 points with nine rebounds and four blocked shots to win the region’s Most Outstanding Player for Connecticut.
No, it wasn’t the “We Shocked the World” UConn team knocking off the nigh-invincible Blue Devils in the 1999 national championship game for the school’s first title, nor was it Emeka Okafor’s game-winning layup that knocked Duke out of the national semifinals in 2004 on the way to the program’s second title.
But in eight days’ time, if Connecticut brings home its seventh national championship in men’s basketball, Mullins’ heroics as part of the 2026 Huskies might somehow surpass them all.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday’s NCAA Tournament regional final, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Terry Mayo Jr. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 45 pictures in total.
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