SAN ANTONIO — A Final Four in your third year as head coach is not a national title, but it’s also not something to forget.
Jon Scheyer and his team fell in devastating fashion 70-67 to fellow No. 1-seed Houston in San Antonio’s Alamodome Saturday night. Despite freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel combining for 42 points on the night, and despite the Blue Devils leading nearly the whole game, the Cougars crushed their so-close dreams of a national championship.
"These guys have done an incredible job," Scheyer said of his team. "It's heartbreaking. It's incredibly disappointing. There's a lot of pain that comes with this. That's what the tournament is all about."
It was a three-point game with 30 seconds to play.
Mylik Wilson stole the ball and looked for a 3-point shot. He missed, barely, but Joseph Tugler bailed him out with a dunk. Houston fouled Tyrese Proctor, who missed his free throw. Flagg fouled J’Wan Roberts, who made his first foul shot and then his second to give Houston its first lead in nearly 40 minutes. Duke had 17.2 seconds to win a game it had kept control of for so long. But a missed shot from Flagg all but sealed the victory for head coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad.
It was a four-point game with four minutes to play.
Every time the Blue Devils took their lead past 10 points, Houston woke up. A technical foul called on Duke gave LJ Cryer two free throws; he made the first and missed the second but put up a jumper in its place, closing the gap to eight points. From there, the Cougars quieted the Blue Devils; neither team scored for over a minute, prompting a timeout from Scheyer. It didn’t halt Houston’s prowess, however. Proctor missed his three and Roberts pushed a layup past Duke. Before the Blue Devils could answer, Tugler managed to tip in the up-close shot his teammates were struggling to complete.
"Houston's a team that doesn't quit," Scheyer said. "I mean, they're never going to stop."
Two made free throws from Proctor pushed Duke into the 60s, and a cold-blooded triple from Flagg in the right corner pushed it further. Houston attempted to match Flagg with a three of its own, but missed two before Flagg blocked the third from Tugler. Emanuel Sharp had a clear path for a layup, making it a seven-point game, and then drew a 1-and-1 bonus foul after Tugler regained possession with a steal. Sharp watched both charity shots fall through the hoop, and saw the scoreboard flash a five-point deficit with 1:27 to turn the game around.
He watched and determined a plan. After a timeout, Sharp landed a three to put Houston within two. In a fouling frenzy — including a technical against the Cougars — Duke scored three more points and Sharp scored four. That’s when it became a three-point game.
"I'm heartbroken for a team that did everything for 38 minutes, or 39 minutes, and came up short," Scheyer said.
Duke jumped out to an 11-point lead midway through the first half, but Roberts announced with a statement dunk that the Cougars were not backing down. Caleb Foster fell victim to a pick, and Milos Uzan used his extra second to square up for a triple, which he made cleanly over Foster’s head. Cryer’s deep three was the last shot that fell before the teams parted for halftime, Duke leading 34-28.
Sion James stormed out of the locker room after halftime ready to play his heart out. He was visibly upset with himself after he missed a wide-open second-chance layup, but used the annoyance as fuel. Just 20 seconds later, he caught a nice pass from Flagg and sealed a three. Then Duke conceded a layup on Houston’s next possession, which kept James’ fire burning; he dunked as soon as Duke had the ball back, putting his team up 41-33.
As Flagg continued with his usual offensive dominance, James was his first mate, running point around the aggressive Cougars and finding the right passes to set the Wooden Award winner up to score. Five minutes into the half, James caught an offensive rebound and passed to Proctor, who assisted a Flagg triple. A few moments later, James caught his own rebound for a missed three, drew a foul from Cryer and, directly after the media timeout, muscled his way to a layup.
"Incredible people, incredible relationships, that I'm gonna have the rest of my life," Flagg said of his teammates after the game.
With a quarter of the game remaining, Duke took a 13-point lead, once again thanks to a James-Flagg collaboration. The graduate guard jumped to catch Houston’s rebound, and passed it to his freshman teammate, who made it a layup. On the next play, James caught yet another rebound and sprinted down the court, looking for a fast break. But accidental contact with a Cougar knocked him to the ground, where he lay for a minute before taking a brief reprieve on the bench. Miraculously, he was back in action within two minutes, to excited “Sion James” chants from the Duke section.
In the first half, exhaustion came for both teams quickly. Houston’s defensive plan, which involved double-teams and its signature physical defense, tired out the Blue Devils as they worked harder than usual to find the basket. Duke did not make a field goal until the first-half clock read 15:57.
Duke and Houston chipped away at the first few minutes of the game in play that was both brutal and slow-paced. The Cougars shot 3-for-16 in the first nine minutes without suffering any serious deficit against the Blue Devils, who were shooting slightly better, but not often enough to take a strong lead. The team from Texas did fare better when it came to offensive rebounding, though, catching nine to Duke’s five in the first half.
With 12:13 to play in the period, Patrick Ngongba II sent a sleek pass from the 3-point line to Knueppel, who lurked at the baseline. He caught the pass, dribbled under the basket and hooked the ball into a clean layup. The Blue Devils climbed to a six-point lead.
But Houston was determined to keep it in single digits. Roberts made a free throw, Sharp dropped a perfect three and then Roberts hit a swift layup off an offensive rebound in the next play. The Cougars trailed by just three points.
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Houston’s relentless attempts at a comeback eventually bore fruit, as it ended Duke’s hopes for a sixth national championship.
"The connection and relationships we were able to have all year long — it was phenomenal," Flagg said. "I wouldn't have wanted to be with anybody else."
He choked up, and headed back to the locker room one last time.
Sophie Levenson is a Trinity junior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.