Houston rallies to beat Duke 70-67 in the Final Four and advance to face Florida for the NCAA title

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four.Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/2 minutes of this game. The second-to-last attempt was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted.

The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer.It was Roberts’ two free throws with 19.6 seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since 6-5.



LJ Cryer, who led Houston with 26 points, made two more to push the lead to three. It was Houston’ biggest lead of the night.The Cougars, who never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jamma, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship.

___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness.

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