Trailing almost the whole way, the resilient Houston Cougars pulled off an unforgettable comeback to defeat Duke in Saturday’s semifinal.
Houston pulled off a comeback on Saturday night that will forever be woven into Final Four history. Trailing by 14 points with 8:17 remaining in the second national semifinal, the Cougars dug out of their deep hole to stun Duke 70-67 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“As long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going to give it our all,” LJ Cryer said in the postgame presser.
Under head coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars have roared back to national prominence by embracing a gritty-not-pretty culture, one built on resilience, determination, hustle and a penchant for yeoman’s work. All of that was on full display for Houston in the closing minutes on Saturday.
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The program’s signature defensive intensity was particularly evident, with the Cougars holding Duke to just one made field goal over the final 10-plus minutes. Meanwhile, Houston slowly closed the gap on a Blue Devils squad seemingly on the cusp of punching its ticket to Monday’s title game against Florida.
From the opening tip, Houston appeared to be playing with fire. The Cougars started the game 1-of-9 from the field and couldn’t capitalize on a flurry of second-chance attempts, quickly falling behind Duke. A Cooper Flagg triple gave the Blue Devils an 8-6 advantage with 14:42 left in the first half, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until the final minute of the game.
Duke had its first double-digit lead with just over two minutes to go as Houston had just six made field goals to this point. But Cryer had nine of his team-high 26 points shortly before halftime, making three 3-pointers and closing the gap to just six at the break.
Houston struggled to carry the momentum into the second half, though, as Duke built a 59-45 edge with 8:17 remaining. Sampson’s squad needed an immediate run to get back within striking distance. It did exactly that, scoring 10 unanswered points to re-engage the home-state Cougar faithful.
As the game wore on, though, the mountain still seemed too steep for Houston to climb. Flagg, who led all scorers with 27 points, drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to nine — followed by an emphatic block on the other end.
COOPER FLAGG. NAILS.pic.twitter.com/r514wlP9KQ
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But Houston still refused to go away.
The Cougars secured Sion James‘ errant inbounds pass with 30 seconds left, and JoJo Tugler slammed home a missed Mylik Wilson 3-point attempt moments later. Suddenly, the deficit sat at just one point thanks to Houston’s 18th offensive rebound.
From there, Duke’s Tyrese Proctor missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, with Flagg committing a loose-ball foul on the rebound. That foul call shockingly put Houston at the line with a chance for its first lead since the opening minutes. Veteran J’Wan Roberts — a 63% free-throw shooter — confidently cashed home a pair to put Houston back in front for the final 19 seconds.
“Going up to the free-throw line, I wasn’t really nervous at all because of the work I put in,” Roberts said. “I just try to trust myself and trust my routine.”
After the game, Sampson referenced the importance of Houston’s team-wide free-throw improvement. According to the coach, that’s a product of each player having to make 150 free throws a day since June. Fittingly, Cryer calmly knocked home a pair moments later, pushing Houston’s lead to three and sealing the unforgettable victory.
“At some point, if you have a culture, quitting is not part of the deal,” Sampson said. “You’re just going to play better.”
Houston’s comeback Saturday is nothing short of poetic. A relative afterthought in Final Four buildup all week, the Cougars have once again embraced the underdog role and relished in it. No program better embodies the kind of resilience it takes to climb out of a massive deficit on the biggest stage, let alone against a storied Duke program led by a generational superstar.
Now, thanks to the culture that Sampson has built and that this Cougar team has embraced, Houston is just 40 minutes away from the biggest accomplishment in program history.