Duke radio broadcaster David Shumate encapsulated the school’s fans with his call of UConn’s heartbreaking defeat of the Blue Devils in the Elite Eight.
Shumate sounded deflated when UConn’s Braylon Mullins hit a deep 3-pointer in the closing seconds to hand the Huskies a 73-72 win, and then he called for a technical foul on Duke’s opponent, alleging that Malachi Smith ran onto the court.
“Seven seconds, tried to throw it ahead, deflected! stolen by Connecticut!” Shumate said during the call. “Two seconds! It’s Mullins up top for the win! Oh, he hit it, with three-tenths of a second to go! Malachi Smith ran off the bench! That should be a technical, but with three-tenths of a second to go, Connecticut has the lead, 73-72.”
Shumate didn’t mention Smith again afterwards on the call, and the Huskies finished off the game moments later to punch their ticket to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
The emotions for UConn radio broadcaster Mike Crispino were quite the opposite as he ecstatically called the game-winning play as it unfolded.
“Boozer, and a steal! Mullins gets it! It’s Karaban to Mullins, long-range three! Oooooh!” he exclaimed as the shot dropped. “It went in! Mullins delivers! Bedlam! Bedlam here! … Absolute bedlam as Mullins threw a 45-footer in!”
Mullins’ shot was from 35 feet out and helped etch him into UConn lore.
The Huskies completed one of the largest comebacks in regional history, with only Louisville having an even tougher hill to climb.
Louisville rallied from down 20 in 2005 when they beat West Virginia.
The Huskies will now face Illinois on Saturday for a chance to advance to the national championship game for the third time in four years.