There have been plenty of moments that led to Duke’s crushing 70-67 Ultimate 4 loss to Houston on Saturday evening in San Antonio — however one might notably frustrate the rabid Blue Satan fan base greater than the remaining.
Duke’s lead — which had been 9 with below 3 minutes left — was whittled to at least one with 25 seconds left after a turnover and a Joseph Tugler follow-up dunk.
Duke Junior Tyrese Proctor then missed the entrance finish of a one-and-one and Cooper Flagg was known as for an over the again foul on J’Wan Roberts that despatched the sixth-year senior to the the road.
Roberts calmly sunk each ends of a one-on-one to offer Houston its first lead since 4-2.
However, whether or not the sport ought to have been determined by these free throws might be a dialogue for a while.
Flagg was desperately making an attempt to get his palms on the ball however it didn’t seem as if Duke’s stud freshman really went over the again.
“That’s a play on to me,” CBS’ Invoice Raftery mentioned on the decision.
“I agree,” concurred fellow analyst and Duke legend Grant Hill.
“He was being screened out. Wow,” Raftery mentioned to finish the dialog.
The ball seemingly would have ended up in Houston’s possession any means with the ball deflecting to the Cougars’ LJ Cryer.
However it’s nonetheless a disgrace such a traditional Ultimate 4 matchup and epic comeback was spoiled considerably by a ref controversy and allowed the sport’s most vital second be determined on the free-throw line.
Many on social media felt equally.
“That was an absolute horrible foul name vs Cooper Flagg. No means. No means,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith wrote on X.
“I don’t see how it is a foul on Flagg,” NFL analyst Warren Sharp wrote.
Different known as the foul “ludicrous” and “atrocious.”
It was one half of what is going to go down as one of many extra crushing losses within the storied program’s historical past.
Duke made one shot from the sphere within the remaining 10:31 of the sport — a Flagg 3-pointer that made the lead 64-55 — as Houston’s relentless protection imposed its will.
Flagg had a remaining shot to place Duke again in entrance however a well-defended turnaround jumper got here up quick and Houston made two extra free throws to push the result in 3.
And a determined final shot by Proctor was effectively off to finish the epic collapse.
“It was an unbelievable season,” mentioned Flagg mentioned, who scored 27 factors and is now possible on his approach to being the No. 1 decide within the NBA Draft after an electrical freshman season.
“Unimaginable individuals, unbelievable relationships that I’m going to have for the remainder of my life. Didn’t finish the way in which we needed it to, however nonetheless an unbelievable 12 months.”
Houston will play Florida, who beat Auburn 79-73 within the first recreation of Saturday night, for the nationwide championship on Monday evening.
