SAN ANTONIO — Sorry guys, “Phi Slama Jama” is already taken. How ’bout something simple, like “Comeback Kids.” “National champs” might be a possibility, too. Houston’s no-room-to-breathe defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes, erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes and brought the Cougars within a win of a championship of their own Saturday night with a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils.
Led by Joseph Tugler’s four blocks and an amoeba-like defense that smothers everything, Houston held Duke to a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/2 minutes. The 67 points were Duke’s second-lowest output of its now-ended season.
The Blue Devils’ second-to-last attempt during their contest-ending 1-for-9 stretch was a step-back jumper in the paint by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer and sent Flagg and company shuffling off in shock. “We just had to keep that belief and keep the faith,” said L.J. Cryer, who won a title with Baylor in 2021 and led the Cougars in this one with 26 points.
This is the program’s first trip to the final since 1984 — which marked the official close of the Phi Slama Jama era, a fun-and-gun dunkfest that never won the title despite the efforts of Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, who was at the Alamodome for this one. Lots has changed since then. One constant: Defense wins championship. Houston has allowed the fewest points this season and even against Duke, with Flagg, Kon Knueppel (16 points) and a roster with five or six NBA prospects, it made things impossible down the stretch.
“Got to give them a lot of credit for what they do every single night they play,” Flagg said. “We could have been a little bit more sharp down the stretch executing some things. At the end of the day, you got to give them a lot of credit, as well.” It was Roberts’ two free throws with 19.6 seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since 6-5. Cryer made two more to push the advantage to three. That matched Houston’s biggest lead of the night.
The Cougars (35-4), who have never won a title, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship. Florida’s 79-73 win over Auburn in the early game was a free-flowing bundle of fun. This one would’ve looked perfect on a cracked blacktop and a court with chain-link nets. Neither team cracked 40% shooting.
It closed the game on a 9-0 run over the final 33 seconds, and though Flagg, the AP Player of the Year, finished with 27 points, he did it on 8-for-19 shooting and never got a good look after his 3 at the 3:02 mark put the Blue Devils (35-4) up by nine.
“Knowing going into that game that he was the player of the year, that he brought his team to the Final Four, we knew it would be challenging,” Roberts said. Trailing 64-55, things looked dire for the Cougars. But they were just getting started.
A team that prides itself on getting three stops in a row — calling the third one the “kill stop” — strung together two stretches like that, broken up only by Flagg’s 3.
