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Cougar comeback: Houston claws past Duke in second half, ending Blue Devils' title hopes

Steve Wiseman, The News & Observer on

Published in Basketball

SAN ANTONIO — For all of Cooper Flagg’s talents and production, the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils failed time and time again on the offensive end late Saturday night and were shockingly bounced from the NCAA Tournament.

Even with Flagg scoring 27 points, Duke made just one field goal in the game’s final 10 minutes, allowing Houston to erase a 14-point, second-half deficit and beat the Blue Devils, 70-67, in the Final Four at the Alamodome.

With Duke trailing 68-67, Flagg took a shot in the lane with eight seconds left but left it short. Houston grabbed the rebound and LJ Cryer’s two free throws sealed the stunning result before a crowd of 68,252 at the Alamodome.

That means the Cougars (35-4), winners of 18 consecutive games, will play No. 3-ranked Florida (35-4) in Monday night’s NCAA Tournament final at 8:50 p.m. on CBS. The Gators knocked off No. 4-ranked Auburn, 79-73, in Saturday night’s first semifinal.

Duke (35-4) shot 39.6%, including just 9 of 24 in the second half, to see its 15-game winning streak halted.

Cryer scored 26 points, making 6 of 9 3-pointers, to lead the Cougars. Emanuel Sharp added 16.

Duke looked to be in control when it took a 56-42 lead with 11:59 to play. But the Blue Devils endured a drought where they didn’t make a field goal for more than seven minutes.

Sharp’s 3-pointer with 32.4 seconds left cut Duke’s lead to 67-64. The Blue Devils had trouble getting the ball in bounds, prompting an official’s review to see if they’d committed a five-second violation. But the officials ruled that not to be the case and Duke retained possession.

This time, Duke turned the ball over as Houston’s Mylik Wilson stole the in-bounds pass. Wilson missed a 3-pointer, but Joseph Tugler slammed home the offensive rebound with 25.5 leaving Duke with a 67-66 lead.

Tyrese Proctor was fouled with 20 seconds left but missed the front end of a one-and-bonus situation. Flagg committed a foul on the rebound.

That allowed J’Wan Roberts to make two free throws with 19.6 seconds left, giving Houston a 68-67 lead, it’s first advantage since the game’s early minutes.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer called timeout and drew up a play for Flagg, who caught the ball in the lane and had an open look, but he left it short to bounce off the front of the rim.

Leading 34-28 at halftime, after holding a lead as large as 12 in the first half, Duke saw Houston pull even closer as Cryer’s 3-point barrage continued. His shot from behind the arc with 19:21 to play cut Duke’s lead to 36-31.

Cryer hit from deep again with 17:19 to play leaving Duke with a 41-36 lead.

 

But Flagg answered for the Blue Devils with a conventional three-point play, scoring inside while drawing a foul and adding a free throw at 16:31. When Flagg and Knueppel hit 3-pointers on consecutive Duke possessions, the Blue Devils lead had returned to double-digits at 50-40 with 14:24 left.

A James basket inside followed by four consecutive Flagg free throws gave Duke a 6-0 run that pushed the Blue Devils’ lead to 56-42 with 11:59 to play.

The Blue Devils led 59-45 after Proctor split a pair of free throws at 8:17.

But a Duke mistake allowed Houston to make a quick push and get back into the game.

While Cryer hit a 3-pointer at 7:58, Duke’s Mason Gillis hit Tugler in the side of the head as they battled for rebounding position. After a replay review, the officials assessed a contact technical foul on Gillis.

Cryer split the two free throws, then scored on a running jump shot at 7:42 and Duke’s lead was suddenly down to 59-51.

With Duke in the midst of going 7:29 without making a shot, Roberts scored inside with 5:53 left.

Tugler tipped in an offensive rebound for a Houston basket at 5:03 and the Duke lead was 59-55, the closest the Cougars had been since the first half.

Proctor hit two free throws with 3:44 left before Flagg drilled a 3-pointer at 3:06 giving Duke a 64-55 lead. But that was the final field goal Duke made.

Houston’s ice-cold shooting for most for the first half allowed Duke to build a lead as large as 12 points. The Cougars started 3 of 17 from the field and were 5 of 25 when Duke took a 26-15 lead on Knueppel’s 3-pointer 3:50 left in the half.

When Flagg converted a reverse layup while being fouled an added the free throw, Duke was up 31-19.

But Houston hit three 3-pointers in the final 1:43 of the half, two from Cryer, to cut into Duke’s lead, which was 34-28 at halftime.

Knueppel led Duke’s first-half scoring with 12 points as the Blue Devils shot only 41.4%.


©2025 The News & Observer. Visit at newsobserver.com. Distributed at Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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