As mentioned, it seemed to be a game of runs. As the second half kicked off, Cooper Flagg seemed to take control of the game – as he went from 8 points to 20 points scored in the game quietly. And the Blue Devils had built a 14 point lead with about 8 minutes left in the game.

But a pivotal play happened with around 8 minutes. LJ Cryer hit a three pointer and as the players boxed out for the rebound, ex-Boilermaker Mason Gillis threw his arm out and hit Joseph Tugler in the face, which ended in a flagrant foul. LJ Cryer hit the first free throw but missed the second one, but the rebound went to Houston. Cryer would then hit a jumper and suddenly, the lead went from 14 to 8. Then, the Houston defense got intense and the Houston offense realized they have a better chance to score in the lane. J’Wan Roberts hit a layup, and Joseph Tugler put back an offensive rebound, cutting the lead to 4 with 5 minutes to play.

Tyrese Proctor would get fouled driving the lane and hit two free throws to stop the scoring run. And with 3 minutes left, it looked like Cooper Flagg hit the dagger on a pretty play where the ball went in to Maliq Brown and immediately kicked out to the corner to Flagg for a three-pointer. But the Cougars kept clawing away at the lead.

Emanuel Sharp made a layup, Joseph Tugler stole the ball from Tyrese Proctor as the Cougars pressed, and Sharp drew a foul hitting two more free throws. But on the following in-bounds, the Cougars fouled Cooper Flagg trying to catch the pass. So, with 1:26 to play, Flagg made it a 66-59 lead.

Then, utter chaos happened. Emanuel Sharp got the ball in the lane and Khaman Maluach fouled him from behind and cut the lead to 5 from the line. But on the inbounds play, Joseph Tugler reached across the line and hit the ball while it was still in the Duke player’s hands for a technical foul. Kon Knueppel would hit the technical free throw and make the lead 6 with 1:14.

Houston decided to play defense, and Tugler got his redemption, as Knueppel drove the lane and Tugler blocked the shot. Milos Uzan rushed the ball up the court, almost slipped and lost the ball, and kicked it out to the wing to Emanuel Sharp who hit the three pointer. It was now a 3 point game with only 33 seconds to play.

Duke once again struggled to get the ball in, and it was stolen by Mylik Wilson. Wilson rushed out to the three-point line and shot a fade-away three pointer which missed. But Tugler flew in and slammed the rebound home – it was now a one point lead.

Duke got the ball in and broke the press, so Houston was forced to foul Tyrese Proctor. And Proctor missed the front end of the one-and-one. And on the defensive rebound, the referees called a questionable foul on Cooper Flagg – either over-the-back or grabbing J’Wan Roberts. With 19 seconds, Houston is suddenly going to the line with a chance to take the lead.

The senior, who was a 62.5% free throw shooter, walked down to the other end of the court, and calmly sank both free throws. Houston has a 1 point lead!!!!

Duke got the ball into Cooper Flagg who tried to back-down Roberts, drove to the lane and took a fade-away jumper. Roberts played outstanding defense, Flagg’s shot hit the front of the rim and missed, and the Cougars grabbed the rebound.

LJ Cryer hit the two free throws to expand the lead to 3, Duke’s baseball pass got batted around to Tyrese Proctor, but his wild prayer from three was nowhere close to going in, and the comeback was complete. With 86 seconds left in the game, Houston was down 7 points. And they would go on to outscore Duke 11-1 to win the game.

At the end of the day, Houston’s defense won them the game. Over the last 10 minutes of the game, the only shot that Duke made from the field was Flagg’s three pointer with 3 minutes to play. All their other points were from the free-throw line.

I do feel a little bad for Duke. Cooper Flagg was called for a critical foul with 19 seconds to play on a rebound where there was some contact but it was hard to say it was anything more than what had happened throughout the game. But when the Blue Devils struggled to get the ball inbounds and kept turning the ball over, you could clearly see the Houston players holding the Duke players to not allow them get free to catch a pass. Its not clear to me how you are allowed to hold people during an inbounds play but you can’t have any contact on a rebound.

But it was still an amazing comeback. Everything had to work perfectly – Houston got some steals, Duke missed some free throws, and the Cougars finished off one of the most improbable finishes in Final Four history to advance to the championship game.

Congratulations to Houston and Florida for winning tonight and advancing to Monday’s championship!