Kelvin Sampson and Houston put a sour end to Duke and Cooper Flagg's season.
In what was a Final Four thriller, the Cougars ended Duke's historic season with a come-from-behind, 70-67 win on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The Cougars used an 11-1 run over the last 1:14 of the second half to punch their ticket to the national championship game on Monday, April 7 against Florida.
"No one ever loses in anything as long as you don't quit. You quit, I don't care, you've lost. Our thing in our timeout (was) we've been here before. It's not like we're down 20. It's not like we were playing great. We felt like if we could get it close enough to put some game pressure on them that something good could happen," Sampson told CBS's Tracy Wolfson after the game.
"But all the credit, all the credit, all the glory goes to God and all the credit goes to these unbelievable young men I get coach. I'm so blessed I get to coach these kids."
Houston goes on extended run
Trailing six with 1:14 remaining in the game, Emanuel Sharp catalyzed a 9-0 Cougars run to close the game when he cut the deficit to three with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Sharp's 3-pointer was then with a defensive stop by the Cougars when Mylik Wilson stole the ball on an inbound pass from Duke's Sion James.
OH MY! HOUSTON CUTS THE LEAD TO ONE! pic.twitter.com/sF9g6TI0AX
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 6, 2025
That steal from Wilson would then be followed up by a missed free throw from Duke's Tyrese Proctor that became two free throws from J'Wan Roberts after a controversial foul was called against Blue Devils star freshman Cooper Flagg.
Duke's offense goes cold — twice
The way Houston closed the game proved why it entered Saturday's Final Four game as the No. 1-ranked defense on KenPom, as the Cougars held the Blue Devils to just one made field goal in the final 10:30 of the game while causing that ...
