With 8:17 to play in Saturday night’s second semifinal at the Final Four, Duke appeared to be well on its way to the national championship game. Then the game slipped away from the favorites to win the title.
After Duke took a 14-point lead – its largest of the game – on a Tyrese Proctor free throw that made it 59-45 with 8:17 to play, Houston scored 25 of the game’s final 33 points to earn a 70-67 win over the Blue Devils, setting up a Houston vs. Florida national championship game Monday night (8:50 p.m., CBS).
Houston got back into the game with a 10-0 run that cut Duke’s lead to four points with 5:03 to play. The Blue Devils pulled back ahead by nine from there with a pair of Proctor free throws and a 3-pointer by national player of the year Cooper Flagg, who scored a game-high 27 points. That would be the last field goal Duke would score in the game, however, as Houston finished the game on a 15-3 run.
The Blue Devils held a 67-61 lead with just 1:14 to play after a Kon Knueppel free throw, but an Emanuel Sharp three on Houston’s subsequent trip down the floor made it a one-possession game. Duke turned the ball on its subsequent inbound play, allowing Houston’s Joseph Tugler to cut the lead to one. Proctor missed the front end of a one-and-one after getting fouled on Duke’s next possession, and Flagg was called for an over-the-back foul on Houston’s rebound.
J’wan Roberts made two free throws to give Houston a one-point lead, and Flagg missed a jumper with eight seconds to play. LJ Cryer made two free throws on Houston’s next possession to make it a three-point game, and Duke was unable to get a proper shot attempt off on its final possession, securing the comeback win for the Cougars.
Duke, which had been the betting favorite to win the national championship, made just one field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Houston now strives to win its first-ever NCAA championship, having previously lost in the national championship game in both 1983 and 1984 with its “Phi Slama Jama” teams led by Hakeem Olajuwon. Florida, which made a second-half comeback of its own as it rallied back from a nine-point halftime deficit to earn a 79-73 win over No. 1 overall seed Auburn on Saturday, seeks to win its third national title after previously winning back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007.
