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Duke, Cooper Flagg fall to Houston in chaotic ending (0:49)
Houston takes down Duke after a chaotic ending involving a missed Cooper Flagg jumper and foul, with Tyrese Proctor coming up short on a last-second heave. (0:49)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Saturday’s Final Four matchup between Duke and Houston seemed like another stop on the Blue Devils’ march to a national championship, just another coronation for the looming Cooper Flagg and Duke title.
After a Tyrese Proctor free throw put Duke up by 14 points with 8:17 left in the second half, the inevitable seemed closer than ever. But Houston stayed true to its culture — defense, toughness and offensive rebounding — to flip the game and stun Duke, 70-67.
“I hear what people say. Duke this, Duke that. Duke’s great. (Coach) Jon Scheyer is awesome,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in his postgame, on-court interview on CBS. “But don’t sleep on Houston. We weren’t 34-4 playing in the Toy Poodle League.”
The Cougars went on a 9-0 run in the final 35 seconds, taking the lead on two J’Wan Roberts free throws with 19 seconds remaining and then icing the game with two L.J. Cryer free throws with 3.7 seconds to go. Flagg came up short on a turnaround jumper on the next-to-last possession and Proctor’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was long.
“It’s been a magical ride,” Scheyer said in his postgame CBS interview, just outside the Duke locker room. “We believe, with everything we had, that we were going to win a championship here. So, I’m just … I feel for them, because they’re competitive. … And I didn’t help them enough.”
HoustonDukePoints2811FG8-232-113-pt FG3-91-3TO15– ESPN Research
Houston’s surge, in fact, can be pointed back to the 11:54 mark, when Flagg hit two free throws to put Duke up 56-42. The Cougars took over from there, and closed the game on a 28-11 run to complete the comeback. According to ESPN Research, Duke shot just 2-of-11 from the floor during that stretch with five turnovers.
Cryer led the way with 26 points and six 3-pointers, while Flagg’s final college game featured a 27-point, 7-rebound, 4-assist performance in a losing effort. All told, Duke led for 34:55 of the game, while Cougars led for just 3:43.
Houston advances to Monday’s national championship game to face Florida, which beat Auburn earlier Saturday. They’ve reached the title game twice before, in 1983 and 1984, but have yet to win a national title.
