SAN ANTONIO — Jon Scheyer, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel stepped onto the press conference stage at 12:40 a.m. ET, staring straight ahead in stunned silence before trying to break down what happened in Duke basketball’s shocking loss to Houston.
The Blue Devils will remember the Alamodome, where the Cougars took advantage of an epic collapse to deal Duke a season-ending defeat at the Final Four on Saturday night.
The Devils (35-4) were up 14 with 8:15 left, nine with 2:15 on the clock and seven with 1:15 remaining, their sights set on playing for the chance to snag a sixth national championship.
“It's been a special ride that ended in a heartbreaking way,” said Duke coach Jon Scheyer, whose team was outscored 25-8 in the final 8:17.
Down six with 47 seconds left, Houston (35-4) scored the final nine points of the game. In the last 30 seconds, Duke had a turnover, missed the front end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line, committed a foul and saw Cooper Flagg come up short on a potential go-ahead jumper in the paint with eight seconds left.
“A shot I'm willing to live with in the scenario,” said Flagg, who had 27 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals in his final game at Duke.
Duke’s inability to get a rebound or complete an inbounds pass contributed to the late-game collapse. The Blue Devils lost the rebounding battle in three of their four defeats, getting beat on the boards by 11 against Houston, 13 against Clemson and six against Kansas.
The Devils didn't snag a rebound in the final 3:24 against the Cougars. Khaman Maluach, Duke's 7-foot-2 center, didn't get a rebound in 21 minutes on the court. Duke made one shot in the final 10 ½ minutes.
When asked if he felt a shift of momentum at any moment against the Cougars, Duke guard Sion James said, “no, not at all.” The Blue Devils had it, until they didn't.
“I thought we were going to win the game to the last minute,” James said, “to the last second.”
The somber scene around the locker room told the story. Several ...
