Duke's Final Four Nightmare: Silence Falls After Epic Collapse
SAN ANTONIO—Inside Duke's locker room, the quiet was suffocating. The only sound? A door banging shut every time someone slipped into the coaches' room—a jarring echo cutting through the stunned haze. No one's ready for the gut punch of blowing a six-point lead in 35 seconds, but that's exactly what hit the Blue Devils in a 70-67 loss to Houston in the Final Four on Saturday night.
WATCH THE FINAL MINUTESThe Meltdown
Houston ripped off the game's last nine points in 33 seconds, leaving Duke in shambles. Players shuffled around—grabbing pizza slices from a stack on a Powerade cooler, staring at phones, dodging reporters' eyes. A walk-on came back from the shower with tears streaming. Another scribbled in a journal. They were all replaying the same nightmare: How does a six-point edge vanish that fast?
— Cooper Flagg
It came down to two brutal moments from freshman star Cooper Flagg. With 20 seconds left and Duke up 67-66, Tyrese Proctor bricked the front end of a one-and-one. Flagg got whistled for an over-the-back foul on Houston's J'Wan Roberts—debatable, sure, but he'd pinned Roberts' arm. The 63% free-throw shooter sank both, flipping the score to 68-67. Then, with 17 ticks left, Flagg got the ball on an iso play, faded from 12 feet, and clanked it off the rim. Game over.
• Blew 6-point lead in 35 seconds
• 0 field goals in final 10:30
• 5th biggest Final Four choke ever
• Flagg: 27 pts (8/19 FG), game-winning miss
Houston's Grit
Roberts was the hero Houston didn't overthink. Early on, Flagg diced them with passes, but at halftime, the Cougars trusted their sixth-year senior to go one-on-one. It paid off.
— Houston assistant Kellen Sampson
Houston's top-ranked D suffocated Duke all night. Center Khaman Maluach? Zero boards in 21 minutes and a -20 plus-minus. Duke's last field goal came with 10:30 left. Flagg's 27 points (8-for-19) couldn't mask the collapse.
SEE FULL GAME STATSThe Aftermath
From up six at the 34-second mark to down one in 15 seconds—it's the fifth-biggest choke in Final Four history. Flagg rode a golf cart back to the locker room at 11:54 p.m., towel around his neck, staring into nothing. His season—and probably his Duke run—done.
• 0-2 in Final Four appearances
• "We've got to finish" postgame
• Flagg likely NBA-bound
• Duke's 3rd straight Final Four exit
Coach Jon Scheyer rolled by minutes later, wife beside him, AD Nina King in the back. "Up six with under a minute," he muttered. "We've got to finish."
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