Mullins' Miracle: How does his shot for UConn measure up to other famous ones in March Madness?
WASHINGTON (AP) — A couple of days ago, Braylon Mullins was a UConn freshman whose name carried weight mostly among the true diehards — college basketball junkies and Indiana high school hoops enthusiasts. Now he's a part of NCAA Tournament lore. That's what can happen at this time of year.
“One of the most brilliant shooters you’ll ever see shoot a basketball made an incredible, legendary March shot,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said. Mullins' 35-footer with 0. 4 seconds remaining lifted UConn over Duke 73-72 in the Elite Eight on Sunday, and now that the dust has settled, it's time to evaluate just how legendary — as Hurley put it — this shot was.
The bar for last-second game winners is actually higher in the women's tournament, where North Carolina's Charlotte Smith once made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the national title game by one in 1994. And who can forget Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale winning both the semifinal and final in 2018 with tiebreaking jumpers? On the men's side, it's a little more complicated.
There are several factors to consider when determining the best of the best. Time and score Last-second shot means last-second shot. Michael Jordan's game winner for North Carolina in the 1982 title game was memorable because of who shot it, but it also left plenty of time for a very ill-fated Georgetown possession at the other end.
Still, Mullins' 3 doesn't lose any luster because there were 0. 4 seconds left when it went in. It wasn't literally at the buzzer, but that's close enough.
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