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Houston defeats Duke, locks in National Championship Game vs. Florida

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•04/05/25•

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Kelvin Sampson
Kelvin Sampson (Troy Taormina-Imagn Images)

Houston was seemingly left for dead in the Final Four. Kelvin Sampson‘s bunch was not playing at an elite level on the offensive end. Duke‘s length was just too much to handle in San Antonio, almost ending the Cougars’ run in the Final Four with a heartbreaking result.

But in the final moments, Houston went on an incredible run. Trademark effort in a full-court press overwhelmed Duke inbounders to cause turnovers. A controversial call on a free throw blockout was what put Houston in the lead, 68-67 at the time.

Jon Scheyer then called up a play for Cooper Flagg, hoping his star true freshman would win Duke the game. Coming up short off the rim, Houston snagged a rebound, burned a few seconds, made both free throws, and secured the 70-67 win.

Nine unanswered points wound up being the difference as the overall run was 11-1 over the final 1:15 of the game. Just an incredible comeback from Houston, locking their spot in the national championship game Monday night.

Duke felt to be in control for most of the game. Houston was not able to find any kind of rhythm on the offensive end due to the Blue Devils’ length. The tallest team in college basketball was presenting all kinds of problems to a Houston squad used to playing with physicality and toughness.

But as Sampson pointed out in his postgame interview, Houston was never going to quit. His mentality played out in front of him one of the program’s biggest ever games.

Looking at the stats, LJ Cryer was incredible for the Cougars with 26 points. He was one of three players to finish the night in double figures as the team shot 37.7% from the field and 45.5% from deep.

Cooper Flagg stepping onto college basketball’s biggest stage was a big-time storyline heading into the game too. He certainly was up for the occasion, up until his final shot. Flagg finished with an incredible 27 points, including a perfect eight for eight from the free-throw line. Making three of four three-point attempts was massive.

Next up is the national championship game and a great matchup is set. Houston is hoping the emotion of Saturday night will carry into Monday. Florida is on the other end, hoping to continue their own good fortune and ruin the magic of the Cougars’ miraculous come-from-behind win against Duke.