SAN ANTONIO — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday night in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four.
Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/2 minutes of this game. The second-to-last attempt during its game-ending 1-for-9 stretch was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer.
It was Roberts’ two free throws with 19.6 seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since 6-5. LJ Cryer, who led Houston with 26 points, made two more to push the lead to three. It was Houston’s biggest lead of the night.
“No one ever loses at anything as long as you don’t quit,” coach Kelvin Sampson said. “If you quit, you’ve lost.”
Unreal!!!!! Cougs win!!!!!! 11-1 run knock off favored Duke @KHOU #champions pic.twitter.com/3mgqQpEeKc
— LEN CANNON (@lencannonKHOU) April 6, 2025
The Cougars (35-4), who have never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jamma, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship.
Florida’s 79-73 win over Auburn in the early game was a free-flowing hoopsfest. This one would’ve looked perfect on a cracked blacktop and a court with chain-link nets.
That’s just how Houston likes it. It closed the game on a 9-0 run over the final 74 seconds, and though Flagg finished with 27 points, he did it on 8-for-19 shooting and never got a good look after his 3 at the 3:02 mark put the Blue Devils (35-4) up by nine.
It looked over at that point. Houston was just getting started.
“We had a feeling that we could still win this game,” Roberts said.
Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars are heading to the #NationalChampionship game 🤩#MarchMadness @UHCougarMBK pic.twitter.com/UfqEmLS7tX
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
A team that prides itself on getting three stops in a row — calling the third one the “kill stop” — allowed a measly three free throws down the stretch. One came when Joseph Tugler got a technical for batting the ball from a Duke player’s hand as he was trying to throw an inbounds pass.
That didn’t make it any better for Duke.
On the possession following the technical, Tugler rejected Kon Knueppel (16 points), then Emanuel Sharp (16 points) made a 3 to cut the deficit to three.
Mylik Wilson stole the next inbounds pass and missed a game-tying 3, but Tugler tipped it in to cut the deficit to one.
Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 20 seconds left to set the stage for the Roberts free throws.
Duke’s slow walk off the court came through a phalanx of Houston fans who waved goodbye to Flagg, who will likely be off to the NBA as the first pick in the draft.
INSTANT REACTION: @UHCougarMBK coming off court after beating Duke in #finalfour2025 70-67 @KHOU pic.twitter.com/z3NiNMgUUj
— Zack Tawatari (@zacktKHOU) April 6, 2025
Houston finished with six steals and six blocked shots, including four from Tugler, who might be the best shot blocker this program has seen since Hakeem Olajuwon, who was on hand at the Alamodome to see the program’s first trip to the final since 1984.
The huge comeback also netted a $1 million win for artificial intelligence. An AI disruptor bet a professional gambler that his program could do a better March Madness bracket, and it all came down to the Duke-Houston game.
Even if the Houston loses in the final, the AI bracket will get more points in the contest and the disruptor, Alan Levy, will pocket the million.
LJ Cryer was INSTRUMENTAL in @UHCougarMBK‘s comeback 💯#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/eDPCF6MXU6
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
LJ Cryer’s shooting has kept Houston in the game. He started the second half the way he ended the first half.
Cryer gets right back to it 🔥#MarchMadness @UHCougarMBK pic.twitter.com/0AdnCAvrLl
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
Coop was persistent for the and-one 😤#MarchMadness https://t.co/mPzCRxAWVn pic.twitter.com/kwl4kY7zn3
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
LJ Cryer started heating up near the end of the first half.
LJ Cryer is heating up 🔥#MarchMadness @UHCougarMBK pic.twitter.com/CfFmJFzJQA
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
J’wan Roberts with the power move!
BIG. STRONG.
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 6, 2025
The Blue Devils maintained control through the first half, but Emanuel Sharp kept Houston close.
E FROM DEEP
📺 CBS | @emanuelsharp_
pic.twitter.com/5cuz7PmevD— Houston Men’s Hoops 🏀 🐾 (@UHCougarMBK) April 6, 2025
The Coogs will have their hands full with AP Player of the Year Cooper Flagg.
COOPER FLAGG ALL THE WAY TO THE RIM 💪#MarchMadness @DukeMBB pic.twitter.com/Vmea5BTOWU
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
LJ Cryer got the scoring started against Duke from long range.
LJ Cryer puts Houston on the board first 🎯#MarchMadness @UHCougarMBK pic.twitter.com/mqta1Gv76m
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 6, 2025
No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Houston play in the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
Blue Devils favored by 5.5 points; over/under is 136.5
The Cougars’ record in Big 12 action is 22-1. Houston averages 74.0 points while outscoring opponents by 15.7 points per game.The Blue Devils’ record in ACC play is 22-1, and their record is 13-2 in non-conference games.
Duke leads the ACC in rebounding, averaging 35.7 boards. Cooper Flagg leads the Blue Devils with 7.5 rebounds.
Duke makes 49.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 11.4 percentage points higher than Houston has allowed to its opponents (38.2%). Houston averages 8.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.3 more made shots on average than the 6.9 per game Duke allows.
Flagg is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Blue Devils. Kon Knueppel is averaging 17 points and 3.9 assists over the past 10 games.
J’wan Roberts is averaging 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Cougars. LJ Cryer is averaging 17.5 points over the last 10 games.
Cougars: 10-0, averaging 71.6 points, 33.1 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 8.0 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 59.6 points.
Blue Devils: 10-0, averaging 86.7 points, 35.9 rebounds, 16.5 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 50.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.0 points per game.
