It started, as things usually do in March, with absurd numbers. Down 19. They missed 17 of their first 18 from beyond the arc. Outplayed, outplayed, and, for a long time, outplayed by the top Blue Devils. However, when it mattered most, the Huskies found themselves with the ball, little time, and an advantage against logic.
What follows will go down in the collective memory of the NCAA with ease and inevitability. Freshman Braylon Mullins, scoreless from deep until the final minute, scooped up a loose ball near midcourt, swung around with one beat, and went from about 35 feet. The shot, however fast, fell with 0.4 seconds left, sealing a 73-72 victory and sending the Huskies to another Final Four.
For longtime hoops fans, the upgrade brings the temptation of timing like a lightning strike that fits perfectly amid the randomness of March Madness. But the allure and attraction of that potential trade has, over time, become a hallmark of the Huskies’ program under head coach Dan Hurley. They don’t just survive the chaos; they seem to anticipate it, bend to it, and hope that if they remain within reach, their discipline, instinct, and perfect faith will tilt the balance against them. This is, after all, their third Final Four in four years, a run that comes with thoughts of pedigree.
And yet, for all the beauty of the Huskies’ plans, the contest was not to be theirs. The Blue Devils decided the goals in about 39 minutes. With the Boozer brothers in charge, they were named offensively and suffocated to protect themselves. Even late, when the margin was cut, they still held the advantage: two ups with a single-digit second left, one clean set of passes from closing the door. Instead, another advantage, forced under pressure, snatched defeat from the agony of victory.
This is the brutality, and the beauty, of the tournament. It rewards time as it imposes consistency. For the Blue Devils, the defeat will take a long time not because they were played, but because they failed to pass. For the Huskies, the win reinforces a subtle truth: greatness at this level isn’t always about dominance. Sometimes, it’s about staying confident long enough for the impossible to happen.
In time, Mullins’ shooting will take its place alongside official tournament times; it will be replayed and reinterpreted until the revision history does everything without a predetermined. In the moment that passed before it left his hands, however, it was the last step: the birth of despair, suspended between defeat and liberation. That it found the net says a lot about the Huskies’ endurance of the competition itself: unforgiving, unscripted, and, at times, impossibly kind.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld launched the Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant in strategic planning, operations and human resource management, business communication, and business development.
