Duke looked like it was heading to the national championship game for the 12th time in program history. With 1:26 left in the game, freshman phenom Cooper Flagg calmly drained two free throws to give the Blue Devils a seven-point lead over Houston.
Then the Cougars channeled the “Clutch City” nickname of their hometown and went on an improbable 11-1 run.
Flagg even had the chance to make the go-ahead basket when he drove to the lane with eight seconds on the clock, but the ball hit the rim and senior guard LJ Cryer closed out Houston’s 70-67 win at the free-throw line.
It was a wild finish, and the numbers back that up. Here are 10 of them to know from the Final Four thriller.
1: Duke entered Saturday night averaging 83.7 points per game and ranking first in KenPom’s offensive efficiency rating. But the Blue Devils had just one (ONE!) field goal over the final 10:31 of the game. It should also be noted that Houston boasts KenPom’s top defensive ranking this season.
3: Houston made just three of its first 17 field goal attempts of the night. The Cougars finished by making three of their final four field goal attempts in the final 2:05.
6-of-9: Flagg and freshman teammate Kon Knueppel led the way for the Blue Devils. The teenagers were the only two Duke players to score in double figures and combined to go 6-of-9 from 3. The rest of the Duke lineup was just 1-of-8 from behind the arc. On the other sideline, Cryer went 6-of-9 from deep as Houston connected on nearly half (10-of-22) of its 3-point attempts.
10: The starters for both teams did most of the heavy lifting. There were only 10 total bench points in the game. Houston got six points from its non-starters, while all four of Duke’s bench points came from Maliq Brown.
13: Flagg might have missed the potential game-winner, but he was also the only Duke player to make a shot in the last 13 minutes. The Wooden Award winner finished with a game-high 27 points in what was likely his final collegiate game.
14: With 11:54 left in the game, Houston trailed 56-42 before staging its comeback. The Cougars then became the third team since 2022 to rally from a 14-point deficit in the Final Four. Kansas in 2022 and San Diego State in 2023 were the other two.
21: If the loss felt like deja vu for Duke fans, it was 21 years ago when the Blue Devils lost in similar fashion in the Final Four. In 2004, Duke was leading UConn by seven points with just over three minutes to go before losing a close one. That game, like Saturday night’s, was also held in San Antonio.
33: Cryer was the first player in 33 years to have 25 points and six 3-pointers in a national semifinal. The last to do so? Bobby Hurley in the 1992 Final Four with, coincidentally, Duke.
58.9: Houston was down 67-66 with 19.6 seconds left when J’Wan Roberts, a career 58.9 percent free throw shooter, went to the line. The senior forward made both free-throw attempts to give the Cougars their first lead since they went ahead 6-5 with 15:25 left in the first half.
97.1: At the 2:30 mark, Duke’s win probability was 97.1%, its highest all evening. The Blue Devils led 64-55 and Houston’s Milos Uzan missed a 3-point shot. Thanks to offensive rebounding, the Cougars had a couple more chances on the possession before Emanuel Sharp laid it in. They missed just one more field goal the rest of the way.
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