UConn tops Illinois to advance to 3rd title game in 4 years - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — If UConn's miraculous win over Duke in the Elite Eight was about Braylon Mullins' buzzer-beating shot, then Saturday's 71-62 win over a stubborn Illinois team in the Final Four was the byproduct of the confidence that moment gave him — and his team.

With his team up four points against an Illini squad that had cut into a 14-point deficit in the second half, Mullins stepped up to the 3-point line late in the game and launched a shot that sealed UConn's win only 30 minutes from where he grew up in Greenfield, Indiana.

«We were not surprised,» UConn forward Jayden Ross told ESPN about Mullins' 3-pointer that gave UConn a 66-59 lead with 52 seconds to play. «Me and Jaylin Stewart were on the bench and he looked at me and said, 'I'm calling a Braylon Mullins 3-pointer right here.'»

Now, the Huskies will enter Monday night with a chance to become the first program in more than 50 years to win a national title for the third time in four years.

Mullins' 3-pointer was meaningful because eight seconds later, Illinois star Keaton Wagler made a 3-pointer on the other end to cut UConn's lead back to four. Without Mullins late-game heroics, UConn may have found itself in a one-point game with history on the line.

Mullins wouldn't allow it.

But the teams that UConn coach Dan Hurley has guided to this juncture were all different. The 2022-23 championship squad won its first 14 games, fell apart for six weeks and then found its footing again to win 12 of its final 13 matchups. In 2023-24, All-American Tristen Newton led a team that beat every NCAA tournament opponent by 14 points or more. This year's group has been a mix of both squads. They won 22 of their first 23 games and then waded through an odd 7-4 stretch before