There was no question it would be Cooper Flagg's shot. How could it not be? In a season where the Duke freshman was celebrated as one of the best players in the country, a prospect with boyish charm and a monster on both ends of the court, there was no question who would have the ball in his hands as Duke's national title hopes were on the line with less than 18 seconds left in the semifinal.
Flagg came off a screen and took the pass from Kon Knueppel just above the three point line, but Houston's J'Wan Roberts was with him step for step. Fighting his way into the paint, Flagg rose for a jumper from the elbow that met its end at the front of the rim, another Cougars defensive rebound on the night.
Houston had taken the lead just seconds earlier off two career-defining free throws from Roberts. It was the first time since the 15-minute mark in the first half. To say the Cougars' 70-67 comeback win Saturday was stunning would be an understatement. To say Duke's game collapsed on the shoulders of Cooper Flagg might be slightly misleading, but extremely cathartic. Houston won its ticket to the national championship by showing why you have to play down to the very last second and the final buzzer rings.
In the first half Duke looked ready to run away with the game as Houston seemed to flounder. Flagg was hitting shots and distributing the ball, Knueppel scored 12 and the Blue Devils were trapping, forcing turnovers, and otherwise causing havoc for Houston, which missed 14 of its first 17 shots. Missing shots is not typically something Houston worries about because of their rebounding. Indeed, they had nine in the first half. That strength turned into a problem as the Cougars shot just 22 percent from inside the arc before intermission.
Duke were up by as much as 14 in the second half, but what had felt like quiet dominance from the Blue Devils started to look ragged and desperate as Houston clawed its way back and Duke leaned on Flagg. If you had asked me for a defining sequence in the game before the final minute, I'd saw it came around the three-minute mark, with Duke holding on to 61-55 lead with Tyler Proctor directing the Blue Devil offense. Proctor finds Maliq Brown in the paint, who draws Houston's Roberts off Flagg. Brown kicks it out to Flagg, who let it fly for three, his arm hanging in the air for dramatic effect. The lead was pushed up to nine.
On the next possession after two attempted threes, and subsequent offensive rebounds for the Cougars, Houston's LJ Cryer handed off to Joseph Tugler on the wing, he gains steam and backs down Knueppel before initiating the spin move to rise and shoot. That's when Flagg emerges, rising to send the ball flying out of bounds with a block. At this point there was 2:15 left in the game. Both teams were looking very much like two of the best defensive teams in the country, Houston's relentless grind on the offensive boards, and Flagg appearing like the hydra to crush the Cougars hopes on both ends of the floor. The problem for Duke, of course, was that Flagg's three was the only field goal the team made in the final 10:30 of the game.
And yet, it still looked like Duke could pull it off by keeping Houston at bay through defensive stops and scoring on trips to the free throw line. But Houston coach Kelvin Sampson committed his team to grinding every second that was left on the clock, even on the boneheaded plays like Tugler snagging a technical foul after slapping the ball out of Sion James hands with just 1:14 left in the game. After the game reset and the clock ticked under one minute with Duke still up by six, Houston simply set up its defense. They didn't attack to force turnovers, didn't foul and take a chance on the free throw line. They locked in and let Duke run down the clock. That is a gutsy move and it paid off in a Knueppel drive to the hoop that was snuffed out of existence by none other than Tugler. An Emanuel Sharp three on the next possession brought the Cougars closer, 67-64, now with just 33 seconds left. After Houston swarmed the inbounds pass for a steal and attempt at a three, Tugler was there again, this time for a putback dunk that made it a one point game with 25 seconds left.
Whether you are old enough to remember it, or you have been watching college basketball long enough to have the replay burned into your memory, Grant Hill's Hail Mary pass to Christian Laettner to send Duke to the Final Four over Kentucky in 1992 was foundational to the Blue Devil's mythos. As a rule, the university and its fans do not let anyone forget this or former coach Mike Krzyzewski scowling visage. On Saturday night Flagg had not one, but two chances at this kind of history-making shot. The beauty of these kinds of plays is that victory smooths the brain and erases all the moment to moment flaws in a game. With 18 seconds left Flagg missed his jumper because Roberts haunted his every step. The final play, a cross-court desperation inbounds to Flagg, met another swift demise at the hands of Houston's defense.
Even with a consensus No. 1 NBA draft pick, some lottery-level players and an air of fate hanging around them, the Blue Devils were buried slowly and then all at once. There was indeed a storybook ending, only this time Duke was on the losing end of it. Maybe they were the most likeable version of a Duke team, or the most fun to watch, but in defeat it's hard not to crow over their demise. Now a generation of Duke players and fans will be haunted by what ifs, phantom calls and fresh grievances to talk about in the buffet line at their hedge fund's annual retreat. But Houston won by being relentless and now the Cougars are on to face Florida in the national championship on Monday night. The reason they got there isn't lost on Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who said after the game: "I mean, they're never going to stop. So my messaging throughout the whole way with the team was, understand this team doesn't go away. So no lead is safe with them."
