2025 Final Four: Houston completes wild comeback to defeat Duke, advance to national championship
A night of Final Four action at the Alamodome on Saturday ended with Duke vs. Houston. The winner will advance to the national championship game.
For the Blue Devils, all eyes are on Cooper Flagg – the National Player of the Year and virtual consensus No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. He’ll go up against a staunch Cougars defense, which ranks as the best in the nation entering Saturday’s game.
Duke vs. Houston will tip off Saturday night at approx. 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS. The winner will then advance to Monday’s national championship game.
Final: Houston 70, Duke 67
04/05/2025 10:52:20 PMOver the last 1:14 of Saturday’s game, Houston outscored Duke 11-1 to advance to the national championship for the first time since 1984. LJ Cryer led the charge with 26 points for the Cougars, and the defense held the Blue Devils scoreless for the final 3:03.
Houston storms back to take lead in final seconds
04/05/2025 10:46:45 PMAfter a huge turn of events, Houston stormed back to take the lead with 19 seconds to play. J’Wan Roberts drilled two free throws after a controversial over-the-back call on Cooper Flagg set them up. That continued a 7-0 run in 31 seconds for Houston.
Emanuel Sharp keeps Houston in striking distance
04/05/2025 10:39:09 PMJust when it looked like Duke was going to hold on, Houston got a big-time three-pointer from Emmanuel Sharp. His shot cut the Blue Devils’ lead to 67-64 with 32 seconds left, and Kelvin Sampson called timeout to set the defense from there.
Cooper Flagg comes up big for Duke
04/05/2025 10:30:52 PMAs Houston mounted its charge, Cooper Flagg hit a much-needed three-pointer to make the Blue Devils’ lead 64-55 with 3:03 to go. He then went back down the court and had a big-time block to keep Houston off the board – and he was fired up.
Houston rattles off run to tighten things up
04/05/2025 10:22:28 PMEntering the final media timeout of the game, Houston started to get hot, rattling off a 10-0 run to make things interesting. That cut the Duke lead to 59-55 with 3:44 to go and could potentially set up another thrilling finish in San Antonio.
LJ Cryer snaps Houston scoring drought
04/05/2025 10:08:25 PMAs Houston was looking at another 3-minute scoring drought, LJ Cryer hit the three-pointer the Cougars needed. It’s still an 11-point game as Duke leads 59-48 with 7:58 to play, but Cryer’s shot got UH back on the board to cut into the deficit.
U12: Duke 54, Houston 42
04/05/2025 09:57:39 PMAt the under-12 minute media timeout, Duke looked like it was starting to create separation. The Blue Devils tied their largest lead of the night, leading Houston 54-42 with 11:54 to play in the game.
Flagg starts off strong after halftime
04/05/2025 09:52:13 PMCooper Flagg had eight of Duke’s first 16 points out of halftime as the Blue Devils continued to go back-and-forth with Houston. Neither team was able to create separation through the first 6:30 of the second half, but the Cougars started out 6-for-8 from the field as they looked to mount a charge.
Second half underway
04/05/2025 09:42:47 PMDuke got the ball to start the second half. Cooper Flagg got the scoring started with a layup on the first possession out of the break.
Halftime: Duke 34, Houston 28
04/05/2025 09:19:06 PMHouston started to get its offense going late in the first half, making its last four field goals to keep pace with Duke. The Blue Devils took a 34-28 lead into halftime, led by 12 points from Kon Knueppel and eight from Cooper Flagg.
Cooper Flagg gets offensive rebound, hits wild layup
04/05/2025 09:15:00 PMAfter getting the offensive rebound on his own miss, Cooper Flagg had an incredible finish with just over two minutes left in the first half. He hit a wild layup and hit the And-1 on the ensuing foul, putting Duke up 31-19 before an LJ Cryer three cut into the lead.
U4: Duke 28, Houston 17
04/05/2025 09:09:31 PMDuke bounce back from the 6-0 Houston run and extended its lead to 28-17 with 2:36 to go before halftime. The Blue Devils’ defense was stifling, holding the Cougars to just 6-for-26 shooting. On offense, Duke had eight assists on its first 11 made field goals.
Houston rattles off run, forces Duke timeout
04/05/2025 09:01:26 PMAfter a sluggish start on offense, Houston rattled off a 6-0 run over 1:13 to get back within three points. The Cougar are just 5-for-20 from the field as Duke leads 18-15 at the media timeout with 7:40 to go.
Kon Knueppel, Cooper Flagg fuel fast start for Duke
04/05/2025 08:40:52 PMDuke vs. Houston got off to a flying start, going without a stoppage for the first eight minutes. The Blue Devils went up 14-8 when the media timeout finally came around, led by seven points from Kon Knueppel and five from Cooper Flagg.
Tip-off
04/05/2025 08:29:04 PMHouston won the tip-off, and Saturday’s Final Four nightcap is underway. Duke will get the ball to start the second half.
Final point spread
04/05/2025 07:46:19 PMDuke is a 4.5-point favorite over Houston in Saturday’s Final Four matchup, according to FanDuel. The over-under is set at 136.5