Duke’s last-second loss to UConn can’t be boiled down to just one play. Just ask Jon Scheyer.
Yes, if Cayden Boozer’s pass isn’t deflected and recovered by UConn, the Blue Devils probably win the game. But there were plenty of mistakes earlier that got them there.
“It’s easy to look at that play. I look at every play that happened, especially in that second half. This is not about one play,” Scheyer, Duke’s fourth-year head coach, said postgame.
“It’s about every play that put us in that position.”
The Blue Devils were up 15 points at halftime and led by as much as 19.
But Duke collapsed across the final minutes, allowing UConn to cut the score to 72-70 with 10 seconds left.
That’s when Boozer turned the ball over, and Braylon Mullins drilled a go-ahead triple from just to the right of the March Madness logo.
73-72. Less than a second left. Ballgame.
Scheyer credited his team’s collapse to second-half turnovers.
Duke had 13 overall, including eight in the second half, to UConn’s five. The Huskies scored 20 points off those giveaways.
“We just gave them easy baskets,” Scheyer said. “We just had to secure the ball better, and that’s a recipe to put yourself in that position. That was the big difference in the game.”
“I think as a whole, we could have gave a lot more in the second half,” said star Duke freshman Cameron Boozer, whose eye was nearly swollen shut at the postgame press conference. “We came out a little flat and gave them a little bit of life. When you’re playing a team as good as UConn, that’s all they really need.”
Duke’s loss broke a 134-game win streak for No. 1 seeds when leading by at least 15 points at the half.
Besides Mullins’ late heroics, Tarris Reed Jr. led the Huskies in points (26), rebounds (nine) and assists (three) to keep them alive.
Both sides finished neck and neck in nearly every statistical category, but the turnover disparity was glaring.
Now, UConn is headed to its third Final Four in four seasons, where it will face No. 3 seed Illinois, the winner of the South region.
Duke’s defeat, meanwhile, continues a streak of disappointments for one of the country’s top programs.
Last year, it lost by three in the Final Four after blowing a big late lead, and in 2024, it was upset by a surging NC State squad in the Elite 8.
The Blue Devils finished this season 35-3 but haven’t won a title since the 2014-15 campaign.
With Sunday’s result, they’ll need to wait another year to add one more ring.
“End of the day, we’ve got to finish it off. We’ll reflect. We’ll learn,” Scheyer said.
