Houston basketball with an incredible comeback over Duke to advance to first title game since 1984

SAN ANTONIO – What. Just. Happened. 

Absolute pandemonium inside the Alamodome an hour before midnight. The Houston Cougars just willed their way to victory in an unreal comeback that left the country in shock. 

The final: UH over Duke 70-67 that sends Houston basketball back to the national championship after 41 years. 

The Cougars have reached the ultimate stage of college basketball for the first time since the Phi Slama Jama era. It was only fitting that with Hakeem Olajuwon in attendance, Houston heads back to the ultimate finale. 

“Once you don’t quit and you believe, anything can happen,” graduate forward J’Wan Roberts said.

It seems as if the Cougars have a knack for pulling out the most improbable wins, this one reminding the team and head coach Kelvin Sampson of the almost impossible win at Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season, where UH was down six with 18 seconds left. 

This game vs Duke; so many picked against the Cougars. The Blue Devils with multiple lottery picks in freshman superstar and player of the year in Cooper Flagg. A sharpshooter in freshman Kon Knueppel. 

In the end, it was a fierce will to not end their season and a powerful non-stop fight back from Houston to pull out what seemed unlikely during almost the whole duration of the game. 

The Cougars trailed Duke 59-45 with 8:17 remaining. The Blue Devils’ chance of victory: 98.5% according to EvanMiya. Houston outscored Duke 25-8 from that point on. 

The 14-point historic comeback is the third-largest in national semifinal history and the fifth-largest in Final Four history. 

Houston’s defense cannot be simulated. Over the course of the game, it played a huge effect on Duke. Like J’Wan Roberts said earlier this week, their defensive mentality will change the game. It did. The no. 1 defense in the country limited the no. 1 offense to just 67 points. That is 15 points less than their average.

“I felt like we could win the game in the high 60s or low 70s. I felt that way going in,” Sampson said.

Sequence of the comeback

The halftime score was 34-28 Duke. The last time Duke lost, it was also a six-point lead. UH shot 31% from the field, had six turnovers and were not making an impact in the paint. 

“I don’t think we could play any worse,” Sampson said. “So instead of ranting and raving at halftime, I was probably more calm and positive ’cause I thought that’s what they needed. Just hang in there, hang in there.”

Once Houston was down 14, the largest deficit of the game, the Cougars started their first run, knowing they just had eight minutes left to keep their season alive, graduate guard LJ Cryer put up six straight points, followed by layups from graduate forward J’Wan Roberts, and sophomore forward Joseph Tugler. 

After a big triple from Flagg with just over three minutes left, it seemed a long shot for Houston. The Duke lead was 64-55, and Houston needed a miracle. It again seemed even more difficult after Tugler was called for a rare technical foul on touching the ball defending the in-bound. 

“As long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going out there and give it our all. We’ve been in positions like that before at Kansas,” Cryer said. 

Knueppel made the free throw, which was the only point Duke scored in the last 1:14. The Blue Devils were now up six, but on the following possession, Tugler blocked his layup, which then allowed a quick Emanuel Sharp 3-pointer, yet another clutch triple from the junior. The lead was now three at 67-64.

What followed was a wild sequence of events. The in-bound pass from Sion James was tipped by multiple players and secured by Sharp and graduate guard Mylik Wilson, who went out to the three-point line but missed it. Tugler then rose up for the thunderous put-back dunk that brought the lead just down to one. Houston quickly fouled Tyrese Proctor on the next possession, and he missed the first shot of the one-and-one. 

Flagg tried to secure the rebound over Roberts, but was called for a foul. In a stunning twist, Roberts was at the line for the two biggest free throws of his career. Not known for his free throw shooting, and facing a crowd of over 68,000, it didn’t phase him. 

At the Stripe

While he made both free throws, Roberts gestured to the crowd waving his arms down, as he wanted the fans to lower their volume for the go-ahead shot. 

“Going up to the free-throw line, I wasn’t really nervous at all. Just trusted in my work,” Roberts said. 

Free throw shooting was of big emphasis for Sampson over the off-season, as he believed it was a big reason why the team had lost in the Sweet 16 to Duke the year prior. 

“When our kids came to June, I gave a very impassioned talk about that. I don’t know if these guys remember. I told them, I said, We have got to change our mentality at the free-throw line,” Sampson said. 

Roberts shoots 150 free throws every day and improved his shot tremendously. Houston keeps a track of their percentages. 

“On his own, he went from 66 to 86. He prepared himself when nobody was watching for that moment tonight. So God bless him. Proud of him,” Sampson said.

To end the game, it was the battle of the no.1 defense vs the no. 1 offense. It all came down to this. Houston up 68-67. 19 seconds left. Roberts guarded Flagg on this possession and forced a missed jumper which was fittingly rebounded by Wilson. 

Cryer was at the line for two huge free throws, and he calmly made both. In the end with just three seconds left, all Proctor could do was heave up a prayer that was not answered. Houston’s prayer was. 

It seemed insurmountable at times, but the Cougars roared back with a 9-0 run in the last 33 seconds to win it. An 11-1 run in the last 1:14. 

The rebounding culture proved itself. UH outrebounded Duke 42-31, and 18-10 on the offensive glass. Houston had 19 second chance points, and also forced nine turnovers. Their winning formula came to reality. 

Both teams shot similarly, but the 3-point shooting for Houston came through. The Coogs shot 45% (10/22) from beyond the arc behind six triples from Cryer, the ninth-highest 3-point percentage in Final Four history. 

Houston won the second half 42-33. Fueled by that fierce defense. Duke made only one field goal the last 10 minutes.

“Took them a while to get to be themselves,” Sampson said. 

After the greatest comeback in Houston program history and one of the best Final Four games that has been seen in recent history, the Cougars now take on the Florida Gators in the national championship. 

Not even Karen Sampson or Terrance Arceneaux can comprehend or wrap their mind about what happened, but they are headed to a national championship on Monday night.