1 week Ago By Hannah Leyva
SAN ANTONIO (WNCN) — Duke's dominant season came to an end Saturday night after a late-game collapse in the Final Four against the top defense in the country.Duke, the No. 1 seed out of the East Region, lost to the Houston Cougars, the top seed in the Midwest Region, 70-67 Saturday night in the second Final Four game in San Antonio.
The Big 12 champion Cougars staged a monumental comeback late in the game, led by Emanuel Sharp's late scoring surge. Sharp scored nine of his 16 points with less than three minutes left in the game, include a three-pointer with 33 seconds left to go to cut Houston's deficit to 67-64.On the next possession Mylik Wilson then stole the ball from Duke's Sion James, but missed a three-pointer.
But the Cougars once again cleaned up on the offensive glass, an area where they outplayed Duke all night, and Joseph Tugler's tip-in made the game 67-66 Duke with 25 seconds to go.Despite the loss, Cooper Flagg, who on Friday was named the AP Player of the Year and on Saturday won the John R. Wooden Award, proved why he's collecting all the national player of the year awards.
The freshman phenom filled the stat sheet with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals against Houston. But Flagg missed a jumper with eight seconds left that would've won it for the Blue DevilsL.J.
Cryer, the Cougars' star player, scored 24 points and had five rebounds to lead the Big 12 champions.Houston will now face Florida in the national championship game Monday night. The Gators beat No.
1 overall seed Auburn 79-73 in the first Final Four game earlier Saturday night..
