The Last Guy You'd Pick
Let's be honest about what we watched on Sunday night. A 19-year-old kid from Greenfield, Indiana — who was shooting 17.5% from three over the previous five weeks, who was 0-for-4 from deep in that very game, whose hands had been stone cold all tournament — caught a pass at "Maryland" and buried a 35-footer at the buzzer to knock out the No. 1 seed in the country [1]. Braylon Mullins hadn't even been good. That's what makes this one of the most statistically improbable moments in March Madness history.
The shot didn't come because Mullins was hot. It came because he was available. After Duke's eighth turnover in the game's final 18 minutes, UConn teammate AK got a steal, moved the ball quickly, and Mullins — a guy who at that point in the game had made exactly one three-pointer — stepped into the look. UConn head coach Dan Hurley later said the play wasn't drawn up. There was no timeout, no whiteboard, no choreography. Just a freshman, a ball, and 0.4 seconds [1].

