INDIANAPOLIS — The ultimate hero of UConn’s game-clinching sequence in its 71-62 Final Four victory over Illinois on Saturday night inside Lucas Oil Stadium was a familiar one, as freshman phenom Braylon Mullins drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 52 seconds left that cemented the outcome.
But the defining shot of a tight late-game situation required something from all five starters who were on the floor with just over a minute to play as the Huskies surged to the national title game for the third time in the past four seasons.
“If that moment is going to be set up for me, absolutely,” said Mullins, who was 0 for 5 in the second half. “You’ve got to shoot it with confidence, and if that moment arises, then we’re going to hit it.”
Therein lies the beauty of Mullins’ place on the UConn roster. He’s played the role of hero lately, and it’s because the entirety of the Huskies’ machine of a program sets him up perfectly to nail the role.
Illinois had roared back from a 14-point deficit to cut the UConn edge to just 63-59, and the Illini were one defensive stop away from potentially trimming the Huskies’ lead down to one possession for the first time since late in the first half.
Before Mullins planted his feet and sank a memorable sequel to his heroic Elite Eight game-winner against Duke, four other players did their part.
First, senior forward Alex Karaban hit Illinois’ Kylan Boswell with a sinister pump fake that created an opportunity for a clean 3-point look at the 1:13 mark. It clanged off the iron, but point guard Silas Demary Jr. fought for the offensive rebound over two taller Illinois players.
Demary, who has been gutting through an ankle injury, then passed the ball to the safety in the hands of Solomon Ball, who had the presence of mind to pass up a wide open 2-point look, instead opting to pull the ball out and run more clock.
The last and most aesthetically pleasing sequence of the game-clinching possession involved center Tarris Reed catching just enough of Illinois guard Keaton Wagler on a screen so that Mullins could get a clean look. As he fired off the Reed screen, Mullins squared up and caught a pass from Demary in stride. Then, he banged home the dagger from beyond the arc that put UConn ahead 66-59 with 52 seconds remaining.
“We have so many actions, and it’s tough for a team to be locked in on the movement,” Karaban said
For four seasons, Karaban has been the master of peeling off of UConn’s intricate web of screens for quality looks, spoke of Mullins’ footwork on the clinching shot like a proud uncle.
“He does it better than I do,” Karaban said. “I think it took him time to adjust just with the speed. You’ve got to come off pins reading whether guys are going to go under or whether they’re chasing you. So it’s definitely an adjustment from high school that he’s done a great job of. But, shoot, he gets the ball off quicker than I do, so I didn’t teach him nothing.”
Demary followed up his massive offensive rebound — which was his ninth board of the night — by hitting Mullins right in the heart of his shooting pocket for his seventh assist.
“I think as the year went on and the chemistry got better and better, I was able to read his feet when he’s coming off that screen so he can get into his one-two, and not pass it too early but pass it just on time,” Demary told CBS Sports.
And don’t forget about the screener. Reed has been an NCAA Tournament hero in his own right for UConn with monster stat lines. Quality screens don’t get properly quantified anywhere on a box score. But for the Huskies to be effective in their detailed off-ball actions, they are a necessity. Reed’s name shows up nowhere in the official play-by-play documenting the clinching sequence, but the 6-foot-10 bruiser played the role of screener to perfection.
“When he really screens, no one wants to keep running through that screen over and over again,” Demary said. “So now guys are second-thinking, ‘should I run through this screen, or should I try and find a way to run around him?’ I think that’s what makes him get even more option shots.”
Reed led the Huskies in points with 17 and rebounds with 11. Demary led the Huskies in assists. Ball led UConn in +/- at a remarkable plus-19, and Karaban is the anchor of it all as the program’s all-time wins leader.
Collectively, they have created the framework for Mullins’ glorious return to Indianapolis. Collectively, they set the stage on Saturday night for the pride of nearby Greenfield, Indiana, to continue living the hero’s role that no other program could have cast so well.
“I wouldn’t want to be doing it anywhere else,” Mullins said. “I’m so happy for the spot that we’re in. This is what the coaching staff pushed for, so just to be a part of this moment, it’s a blessing.”
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