Jay Bilas compares Braylon Mullins game-winner over Duke to Christian Laettner's shot

Three days after UConn guard Braylon Mullins hit one of the greatest shots in NCAA Tournament history to knock off Duke in the Elite Eight, Jay Bilas is opening up about how it compares to the infamous Christian Laettner shot.

Duke was on the right side of the Laettner shot, as his turnaround fadeaway jumper at the buzzer knocked Kentucky out of the 1992 Elite Eight. The Blue Devils went on to win the National Championship, cementing the play as one of the best in the sport’s history.

Bilas, who has been a mainstay at ESPN since 1995, was an assistant coach at Duke when Laettner hit the shot. He opened up about the two now infamous plays during the latest episode of ‘The Triple Option’ podcast.

Jay Bilas claims Braylon Mullins shot is ‘right at the top’ of March Madness moments

“It’s right at the top,” Bilas said when asked how the Mullins shot compares to the Laettner shot when discussing all-time March Madness moments. “Look, I was an assistant coach at Duke when Christian Laettner hit that shot against Kentucky in the Elite Eight in 1992 in Philadelphia. Honestly, the feeling I had watching that shot go in by Braylon Mullins was very much the same when Laettner hit that shot. The idea like, ‘holy cow, that was impossible’. Who thought that could happen?

“The funny thing about the Laettner shot is that we had ran that same play earlier in the season against Wake Forest. Grant Hill threw some banana ball that took Laettner to the sidelines and out of bounds and we lost. When Coach K called that same play again, I was like ‘I don’t know if this is such a good idea. The last time we ran it, it didn’t go so well.’

“But, the Mullins thing — I don’t know what the win probability in the game was for UConn, but it was really low. It required good execution by UConn, but I don’t think they executed their offense like they wanted to. They fixed it and made it work”.

Although the 1992 Elite Eight game between Kentucky and Duke was neck and neck for nearly the entirety of the game, UConn trailed by as many as 19 points in last Sunday’s Elite Eight game. This made the Huskies win even more improbable.

Just like Duke did with the Laettner shot, UConn will now be looking to parlay the momentum from Mullins’ game-winner into a third National Championship in four seasons. It will face Illinois in the Final Four for a spot in the national title game on the line.