Houston Rallies to Beat Duke in Final Four

The comeback Cougars slayed the seemingly unbeatable dragon.
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, L.J. Cryer and No. 1 Houston went on a furious and incredible late run to shock No. 1 Duke, 70-67, and advance to the men’s national championship game.

“We held that team to 67 points,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said, admiring at what his team had pulled off.
Monday night’s title game will now feature Houston against No. 1 Florida Gators.

Duke was in control leading 59-45 with just over eight minutes left in the game and the Blue Devils looked like they were headed to their first national championship game in ten years, since 2015. But Cryer had other ideas and was a major reason the Cougars remained in striking distance, sparking a 10-0 run to make it a two-possession game, slicing the deficit to four points with five minutes left.

“We just had to keep that belief and keep the faith,” said Cryer, who won a title with the Baylor Bears in 2021 and led the Cougars in this one with 26 points.

Even when the Blue Devils were finding their rhythm again, Houston stuck to their game plan and gave up. Emanuel Sharp buried a 3-pointer to make it a three-point game with 32 seconds left, and a steal on an inbound pass and a bucket made it a one-point game with 20 seconds left on the clock.

Houston fouled Tyrese Proctor, and with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he could not make the front end of the one-and-one. On the rebound, Cooper Flagg was called for an over-the-back foul to send J’Wan Roberts to the free throw line. He calming sank both shots, and Flagg missed a shot in the lane on the following possession. A pair of free throws from Cryer secured the win when Proctor’s impossible shot from 3 at the buzzer missed. Houston finished the final 80 seconds on an 11-1 barrage.

“Don’t sleep on Houston,” head coach Kelvin Sampson said afterwards on the CBS broadcast.

Despite the disappointing loss, Wooden Award winner Flagg had another epic night for Duke like he has done all year long. He had a game-high 27 points, 19 of which came in the second half. His 3-point shot with about three minutes left in the game ended up being the last field goal Duke would make and more likely than not, the last of his collegiate career.

“Got to give them a lot of credit for what they do every single night they play,” Flagg said. “We could have been a little bit more sharp down the stretch executing some things. At the end of the day, you got to give them a lot of credit, as well.”

The Cougars return to the national championship game for the first time since 1984 where they were led by Hakeem Olajuwon. This is the third time Houston has made the final, but they are still searching for that elusive title. The Cougars are 35-4, extending the programs record for most wins in a season and their nation-leading win streak to 18 games. The Cougars also got revenge on Duke after the Blue Devils eliminated Houston in the Sweet 16 last season.

Sampson, 69, now has 799 career wins and 299 at Houston under his belt; winning Nos. 800 and 300, respectively, would finally get him his first national championship.

Saturday’s game started out with Houston’s style of play, physical while controlling the offensive glass. While they got plenty of second-chance opportunities early, they struggled to put the ball in the hole. Meanwhile, the duo of Flagg and Kon Knueppel got the offense rolling as Duke took a nine-point lead midway through the first half.

Houston got over their nerves, shook off the cobwebs and cut the deficit to three, 18-15, only to see the Blue Devils’ award-winning freshman get back to scoring. A spectacular and-one play from Flagg extended the lead to 12 points late in the first half.

Three-point shots started to fall for Houston as the second half began. The only problem was Duke matched their output to maintain a double-digit advantage. Flagg completely took over Duke’s offense and the Blue Devils led by as many as 14 points before Houston ended the game on a 25-8 extended run over the final eight minutes. For the first time all year, Duke showed their youth and inexperience, only making one of their last nine field goal attempts and turned it over five times during that stretch.

Houston’s defense ended up getting the better of Duke’s high-octane offense. Saturday was the sixth time Duke was held to under 40% shooting in a game and the 67 points was the second-lowest amount Duke scored this season. Houston keeps its perfect record intact at 33-0 when holding opponents to less than 70 points.