UConn’s Braylon Mullins let out a radiant, triumphant smile before exchanging a high-five and locking foreheads with head coach Dan Hurley, a moment of pure joy as the Huskies marched on to their third national title game in four years.
Mullins, a 6-foot-6, slim-built five-star freshman, was just six days removed from authoring one of the most unforgettable shots in NCAA Tournament history — a buzzer-beating 3 to eliminate top-seeded Duke in the Elite Eight. On Saturday night, he delivered yet another defining moment, burying a cold-blooded dagger 3 with under a minute remaining to seal a 71-62 win over third-seeded Illinois.
“The start to the game, and then the finish to the game,” Hurley said of his freshman star, glancing back at the roaring crowd behind him. “He’s amazing.”
Just like that, the Huskies are headed back to the national championship, where they will take on No. 1-seeded Michigan, fresh off a dominant win over Arizona.
Here are four takeaways from the Final Four.
1. UConn’s status as a modern-day dynasty is no longer debatable
UConn head coach Dan Hurley celebrates with one of his players after the Huskies defeated Illinois in the Final Four. (Photo by Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
There was no shortage of eye-popping stats circulating on social media ahead of Saturday’s Final Four matchup between UConn and Illinois. One centered on senior Tarris Reed, who entered the game averaging 22 points and 13.5 rebounds through four NCAA Tournament games, putting himself firmly in the conversation for Most Outstanding Player if the Huskies finished the job.
Another highlighted UConn’s suffocating defense, which had held every opponent under 66 points per game during the tournament and hadn’t allowed a team to score more than 75 since Creighton did it back on Feb. 18.
But the most staggering stat of all? UConn is now 12-1 in Final Four games.
CBS play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle summed it up perfectly as the final horn sounded and the Huskies punched their ticket to a third national championship game in four years: “They are the bluest of bloods in college basketball right now.” It’s hard to argue that.
For years, the sport’s blue-blood conversation has been dominated by programs like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas. It’s time to officially add UConn into that mix.
Outside a Round of 32 loss last year to No. 1 seed Florida — the eventual national champion — UConn has been as dominant as any program in the country in recent memory. The Huskies have won 19 straight games in the Sweet 16 or later and, remarkably, have captured all six of their national championships since 1999. That’s more than triple the combined total of this year’s other Final Four participants: Michigan, Arizona, and Illinois.
“You’re set up for success at UConn,” Hurley said in a postgame interview. “I’ve got the best staff in the country and an incredible group of players. There’s nothing like that bus ride to the stadium on Monday night when you’re one of the last two teams standing.”
2. The Huskies won with a complete team effort
Braylon Mullins of the UConn Huskies interacts with Tarris Reed Jr. in the first half against Illinois in the Final Four. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
There’s a lot of truth to the following sentiment: brackets set the stage for March Madness, but the NCAA Tournament is often defined by its superstars. We saw it last year with Florida All-American Walter Clayton, and in past runs from Anthony Davis, Kemba Walker, Carmelo Anthony, and countless others who carried their teams on the sport’s biggest stage.
But that hasn’t been the formula for this UConn group.
Yes, Tarris Reed Jr. has been the Huskies’ most productive player throughout the tournament. Yes, Alex Karaban ranks among the most accomplished players in program history. But UConn’s ability to hold off Illinois’ second-half comeback on Saturday had far more to do with balance than individual stars.
The Huskies had four players score nine or more points, yet none finished with more than 17. Mullins — coming off that buzzer-beating 3 to eliminate Duke in the Elite Eight — set the tone early. He knocked down three of his five attempts from beyond the arc in the first half and led all scorers with 12 points before the break.
Mullins cooled off in the second half, but that’s when UConn’s depth took over. Junior guard Solo Ball had a strong second half, finishing with 13 points while going 5-of-11 from the field, but the real difference came on the defensive end. UConn held Illinois to just 34% shooting from the field and 23% from 3-point range while holding Andrej Stojakovic and David Mirkovic — Illinois’ second- and third-leading scorers — to just 15 combined points on 6-of-17 shooting.
The most telling stat: this marked just the second time all season Illinois has been held under 65 points. The first? A 74-61 loss to UConn back on Nov. 28.
“This year hasn’t been a joyride,” Hurley said in the postgame press conference. “We haven’t been a machine of destruction. We’ve been a team that’s had to grind out games like this.”
3. Michigan was ready for the moment. Arizona wasn’t.
Yaxel Lendeborg and Trey McKenney of the Michigan Wolverines react while playing against Arizona. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
In a game billed as a heavyweight fight — and by some as the de facto national championship — Dusty May’s team looked composed and in control from the opening tip. Arizona, meanwhile, never seemed comfortable on the big stage.
Michigan raced out to a 10-1 lead and pushed the margin to 16 in the first half, immediately setting the tone. Point guard Elliot Cadeau, who faced questions all week about how the Wolverines would handle Arizona’s dynamic back court of Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries, proved to be the most poised guard on the floor, playing under control and dictating the tempo throughout.
Michigan’s Aday Mara established his presence down low early on and never let up. The 7-foot-3 junior big man controlled the paint on both ends, outplaying Arizona’s interior duo of Motiejus Krivas and Koa Peat. Mara, a transfer from UCLA, finished with a career-high 26 points and nine rebounds in a dominant performance.
All season, Arizona has thrived by attacking the rim, scoring more than 56% of its points from inside the arc, a mark that ranked 14th nationally and easily led all Final Four teams, according to KenPom.
But Michigan completely disrupted the Wildcats’ identity, holding them to just 37% shooting and forcing 14 turnovers, their highest total of the tournament and eight more than they committed in their Elite Eight win over Purdue.
“They had us on our heels all night, and we could never get into a rhythm,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said in the postgame press conference. “No one’s been able to do that to us all year.”
4. Michigan looks like a team of destiny
Trey McKenney of the Michigan Wolverines reacts against Arizona during the second half in the Final Four. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
In today’s college basketball landscape, where NIL and the transfer portal have reshaped roster building, it’s nearly impossible to label a true preseason favorite. That is especially true for a team like Michigan, whose top four players — Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson Jr., Mara and Cadeau — were all playing elsewhere last season.
But as the year progressed and Dusty May’s group began to gel, it became clear this was a really talented team. The Wolverines opened the year 14-0, outscoring opponents by an average of 28 points per game, then tore through the Big Ten to a 19-1 record, winning the conference by four games.
Their dominance has only intensified in March. Entering Saturday night, Michigan had won its first four NCAA Tournament games by an average of 22.5 points, the closest being a 13-point win over Alabama in the Sweet 16. That trend continued in the Final Four, where a 91–73 win over Arizona added yet another emphatic chapter to their storybook run.
Michigan has now beaten all five tournament opponents by double digits, becoming the first team in NCAA Tournament history to score 90 or more points in five games in the Big Dance.
And perhaps most impressive, they did it Saturday without a fully healthy Lendeborg, who played just 14 minutes after suffering an injury in the first half.
Lendeborg called it “a weird feeling,” but added, “there’s no way I miss the game on Monday night.”
The Big Ten’s national title drought has loomed over this tournament, with the conference’s last championship coming in 2000, when Tom Izzo led Michigan State to a national title.
This Michigan group looks like a team of destiny, and one poised to end that drought.
4½. What’s next?
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 UConn (Monday) — After overpowering Arizona and controlling the game for all 40 minutes Saturday, Michigan advanced to the national championship with a chance to secure the program’s second title (1989). Standing in their way is a UConn team chasing its seventh national championship, all since 1999. The Huskies haven’t lost an NCAA Tournament game beyond the opening weekend since 2009. With one more win, they would break a tie with North Carolina for the third-most titles in history, trailing only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight). This game has all the makings of an instant classic.
