Field Level Media
Kelvin Sampson’s teams pride themselves on toughness — something that manifests both physically and mentally.
After a tough comeback against a college basketball blue blood, Houston is one win away from its first national championship.
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LJ Cryer ignited a 14-point rally in the final 8:02, J’Wan Roberts made the go-ahead free throws and Houston stunned Duke 70-67 in a memorable Final Four clash between No. 1 seeds on Saturday in San Antonio.
Cryer shot 6-of-9 from 3-point range and led the Cougars with 26 points, while Roberts had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Emanuel Sharp made massive plays down the stretch and finished with 16 points for Houston (35-4), which won its 18th straight game and will face Florida for the national title on Monday.
“No one ever loses at anything as long as you don’t quit,” Sampson said in his CBS postgame interview. “If you quit, I don’t care, you’ve lost. I told them in our timeouts, ‘We’ve been here before. It’s not like we’re down 20.’”
Cooper Flagg had 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks for Duke (35-4) but was whistled for a foul with 19 seconds left that allowed Houston to move in front after the Blue Devils led most of the game.
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Houston outrebounded Duke 42-31 to make up for 37.7 percent shooting from the floor. Facing the Cougars’ top-ranked defense, Duke made just 39.6 percent of its shots after hitting at least 50 percent in each of its first four NCAA Tournament games. The Blue Devils made just one field goal in the final 10:30.
“Frankly, the game, we did what we wanted to do,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I thought our guys followed the game plan, controlled the game, we had the lead for 35 minutes, winning by six with a 1:15 to go. They made plays. You got to give ’em a ton of credit. We didn’t make those plays.”
Duke appeared safe when Houston’s Joseph Tugler made contact with the ball as the Blue Devils were attempting an inbound with 1:14 left. Duke received one technical foul shot and possession.
Kon Knueppel (16 points) made the shot for a 67-61 lead, but Houston got a stop via Tugler’s block and Sharp made a major 3-pointer to cut it to 67-64.
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James’ inbound pass was stolen by Mylik Wilson, and Houston clawed within one on Tugler’s putback dunk with 25 seconds left.
The Cougars then fouled Duke, and Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Roberts then drew an over-the-back foul from Flagg on the rebound.
Roberts’ free throws gave Houston its first lead since 6-5. Flagg’s midrange floater with eight seconds left hit the front of the rim, and Houston got the rebound. Cryer hit two free throws for the final margin.
Houston’s 11-1 run in the final 1:14 was reminiscent of a comeback win at Kansas earlier this season, when the Cougars trailed by six with 28 seconds left in the first overtime but managed to force double OT and win 92-86.
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“As long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going out there and give it our all,” Cryer said. “We’ve been in positions like that before at Kansas. I don’t remember how much we was down, but it was late in the game. That game looked like it was pretty much over, too. Somehow we ended up winning it … We just had to keep that belief and keep faith. We got it done.”
The Houston players said they didn’t feel disrespected that Duke, Auburn and Florida drew most of the attention this week. Sampson, when speaking on CBS, had a different take.
“I hear what people say. Duke this, Duke that,” Sampson said. “Duke’s great. Jon Scheyer is awesome. But don’t sleep on Houston. Don’t sleep on Houston. We weren’t 34-4 playing in the Toy Poodle League. We were 19-1 in the Big 12.”
Duke led by as many as 12 points in the first half and 34-28 at halftime. Flagg hit a jumper at the 10:31 mark of the second half and Proctor added one free throw for a 59-45 lead, but that’s when the Blue Devils lost their shooting touch.
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Cryer had a six-point possession thanks to a flagrant-1 foul call on Mason Gillis under the basket when Cryer made a trey. Houston got one foul shot and possession, and Cryer hit a jumper to cut it to 59-51 with 7:43 to play.
Houston pulled within 59-55 before Proctor hit two free throws to end a 4:33 Duke scoring drought. Then, Maliq Brown kicked the ball to Flagg in the right corner for a 3-pointer with 3:03 left.
“It was an incredible season,” said Flagg, who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this June. “Incredible people, incredible relationships that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. Didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but still an incredible year.”
“You go from some of the most special moments in the tournament to the most heartbreaking loss,” Scheyer said. “I’m not about to feel sorry for one second. These guys have done an incredible job.”
