<\/p>\n
UConn guard Braylon Mullins (24) rebounds against Illinois during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n
UConn’s Alex Karaban (11) laughs alongside teammate Braylon Mullins (24) and Jaylin Stewart (3) during practice ahead of a national semifinal NCAA college basketball tournament game against Illinois at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n
Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau (3) celebrates a basket against Arizona during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Even though he hails from a state where Peyton Manning ruled the sports world, the Fab Five and Tom Brady turned Indiana native Josh Mullins into a dedicated Michigan fan.<\/p>\n
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Just how big of a Wolverines fan? He named his oldest son after star Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards.<\/p>\n
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Now, UConn’s breakout star, Braylon Mullins, will try to take down the family’s favorite program with the national title on the line Monday night. But there’s no doubt where the family’s allegiance lies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s UConn all the way,\u201d Josh Mullins told The Associated Press, who was seated near the front row with his wife and twin sons for Friday’s open practice. \u201cI tried to get all of them to buy in on (Michigan). When I was growing up, you know, the Fab Five. I was a huge football fan, that’s why I like Brady.\u201d<\/p>\n
The eldest member of the Mullins family has been in high demand this week from both sides of this March Madness finale.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He did a podcast this week with Edwards, though he\u2019s never met the ex-receiver in person, and was hopeful of meeting Jalen Rose, Chris Webber and the rest while they were in Indianapolis doing some TV work over the weekend.<\/p>\n UConn (34-5) fans are excited to meet him, too, since the Huskies likely wouldn’t be here without the sensational play of his oldest son.<\/p>\n Braylon Mullins made the long 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to take down Duke, the tourney’s top seed, in the East Region final, then made another crucial 3 with 52 seconds left Saturday to beat Illinois 71-62.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It was his only basket of the second half, setting up the clash \u2014 and potential family feud \u2014 against Michigan.<\/p>\n “In my household, growing up, it was Michigan football, Michigan basketball,\u201d Braylon Mullins said Sunday. \u201cThat’s what my family and friends were watching. So having people around me who are probably going to be rooting for Michigan means a little more in this game, just to be fun. But at the end of the day, it’s just another game.\u201d<\/p>\n Cadeau and the art of missing on purpose<\/p>\n Michigan guard Elliot Cadeau controlled a lot of Saturday night’s win over Arizona despite shooting only 5 for 17. Coach Dusty May says those shot stats aren’t as bad as they look because, at least once, Cadeau was missing on purpose.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In a twist of coaching genius, May instructed Cadeau to bounce the ball high off the backboard as a way to get it to 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara, who was dealing with Arizona’s 7-4 Motiejus Krivas for much of the evening.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the stat sheet it says a missed shot and a put-back,\u201d May said of his guard’s stats line, which also included 10 assists, five rebounds and four steals.<\/p>\n Cadeau confirmed this. On Michigan’s first possession, he drove to the hoop and Krivas came over to try to stop him, so Cadeau threw the ball high off the glass to set up an easy put-back for a then-wide-open Aday. The center finished with a career-high 26 points.<\/p>\n \u201cYou’ve got to learn new tricks and stuff to get the ball,\u201d Cadeau said. \u201cIt’s pretty hard. Something I’ve never done before, never been taught before, but I think me and Aday got established connections on those type of passes now.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A Big Ten drought could come to an end<\/p>\n Michigan could end a Big Ten drought without the national title that dates to 2000, when Michigan State’s “Flintstones\u201d team \u2014 led by Mateen Cleaves out of Flint \u2014 beat Florida to win the championship.<\/p>\n The Wolverines, of course, are more focused on bringing the second title back to campus \u2014 the first since 1989.<\/p>\n But May said he’s well aware of what a win would mean to the conference, which has ballooned from 11 to 18 teams since it last cut down the nets at the Final Four \u2014 as good a sign as any about the changes that have enveloped college sports over the last quarter century.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re competing against the SEC, the Big 12, the Big East, all these other leagues,\u201d May said. \u201cThe better we can do as a group, as a league, and it also helps financially as TV contracts are renegotiated and things like that. So, we have to do well for us and for the Big Ten if we want to continue to be on the cutting edge and hopefully be in the premier basketball league in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n The Big Ten has won the last three national titles in football.<\/p>\n Michigan’s May learned from Bob Knight <\/p>\n This marks the 50th anniversary of the last undefeated team in college basketball \u2014 Bob Knight’s 1975-76 team at Indiana.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Some two decades after that Hoosiers team made history, May served as a student manager for Knight in Bloomington.<\/p>\n The Michigan coach said there was a planning-and-preparation aspect to Knight’s work that he has tried to emulate.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re figuring out solutions or contingencies in advance, and if those become a problem you\u2019re ready, as opposed to just always being shocked at what\u2019s in front of you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Part of the equation, May said, is related to an emotion commonly associated with Knight.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cObviously there\u2019s a fear element and a fear of disappointing him, that you wanted to be thinking ahead, you wanted to be on your toes,\u201d May said. \u201cYou\u2019re always anticipating what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage<\/a>: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UConn guard Braylon Mullins (24) rebounds against Illinois during the second half of an NCAA college basketball tournament…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,17425,88042,8411,217,8761,7102,88043,1739,18922,88041,231,772,1544,29499,29496,2865,29494,87342,29498,87343,73631,86428,15670],"class_list":{"0":"post-701111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bob-knight","10":"tag-braylon-edwards-josh-mullins","11":"tag-chris-webber","12":"tag-college-basketball","13":"tag-elliot-cadeau","14":"tag-jalen-rose","15":"tag-josh-mullins","16":"tag-michigan","17":"tag-motiejus-krivas","18":"tag-mullins-march-madness-huskies-wolverines","19":"tag-ncaa","20":"tag-ncaa-basketball","21":"tag-ncaab","22":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","23":"tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","24":"tag-peyton-manning","25":"tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","26":"tag-product-32555-ap-online-college-sports-news","27":"tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","28":"tag-product-40778-ap-connecticut-sports-only","29":"tag-product-40785-ap-indiana-sports-only","30":"tag-product-40792-ap-michigan-sports-only","31":"tag-tom-brady"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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