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SAN ANTONIO — J’Wan Roberts extended his hands. Settle down, he said.
Yes, this was impossible.
Yes, this whole swirling, bizarre night was on the verge of becoming one of those games that will live in hearts and minds for eternity.
Yes, this was about to be the night that Houston pulled off a comeback so stunning, so jarring, that it will take everyone — specifically those souls living in Durham, N.C. — a lifetime to comprehend.
But settle down, Mr. Roberts said. The 23-year-old man spent the previous two hours trying to stay in front of Cooper Flagg’s deep bag of spins and crossovers. He spent two hours trying to will Houston to its first title game appearance in nearly 40 years. He spent two hours trying, and mostly failing, to stop the dam from breaking. Now the 6-foot-8, 235-pound Roberts had a free throw to give the Coogs an improbable lead — their first lead since the 15-minute mark of the first half.
The shot fell, and what would end in a stunning 70-67 Houston win began to feel very real. Kelvin Sampson’s team trailed mighty Duke 59-45 with eight minutes left in the second half of Saturday night’s second national semifinal. The game, essentially, was over. It would be Duke heading to play Florida in a Monday night mega-matchup.
By the seven-minute mark, the deficit was down to single digits. With 1:14 remaining, it was down to six.
Then over the last 33 seconds, it all happened. Following a blown inbound play with 22.5 seconds remaining, Joseph Tugler careened in from nowhere for a put-back dunk off a missed 3 by teammate Mylik Wilson. Then came Roberts’ free throws. Then came two more from L.J. Cryer, the Houston Hero on this evening. Like that, a 9-0 run to close the night sent the Alamodome into a hot, breathless dream machine. The 14-point comeback is the fifth-largest deficit overcome in Final Four history.
One of the craziest comebacks you’ll ever see. pic.twitter.com/xvsxFI9631
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 6, 2025
For so much of Saturday night, Duke looked poised to beat Houston at its own game, going chest-to-chest with the country’s best defensive team and best rebounding team. This was to be the coup de grâce for Flagg, his fellow Duke freshmen and Jon Scheyer’s fleet of complementary pieces.
It ended with Flagg missing the possible go-ahead shot with eight seconds to go. As a whole, the Blue Devils missed eight of their last nine shots. A would-be Christian Laettner baseball-pass final shot on Duke’s final inbound was knocked away.
Flagg, with 27 points in his final college game, untucked his jersey and walked toward the handshake line, and Houston players poured onto the floor.
Sampson, meanwhile, threw a fist through the air and tried to process what just happened.
It’s hard to make history in a city known for putting men on the moon, but this Houston team could be the one to finally raise a long-awaited banner. In its seventh Final Four appearance, the program of Guy V. Lewis and Elvin Hayes and Otis Birdsong and Phi Slama Jama is making its third trip to the title game. The 1983 team should’ve done it, if not for Dereck Whittenburg’s heave, Lorenzo Charles’ dunk and Jim Valvano’s mad dash. The Coogs returned to the national championship game the next year, despite losing Clyde Drexler, but ended up on the wrong end of a duel between Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing.
Now it’s 2025 and, in an age when Houston basketball could’ve easily been left for waste, the Coogs have instead climbed from a fringe power conference program to a powerhouse on the brink of a first national championship. Eleven years ago, Sampson took over a program with a dilapidated arena, a regrettable conference affiliation and a distant history. The Coogs had been to one NCAA Tournament in the 21 years before Sampson’s arrival. He walked in the door and had the school in the tournament by Year 4, in the Sweet 16 by Year 5 and in the Final Four by Year 7. Now it’s heading to the title game.
Cryer carried the Coogs with 26 points, playing every second of every minute.
Roberts had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Emanuel Sharp added 16.
They all left the floor in total defiance, leaving behind disbelief in their wake.
It was hard in the end to remember that this was nearly a rout from the start. Houston began things by missing 14 of its first 17 shots, mostly on ugly possessions with lots of dribbling and subsequent forced shots. Usually such missed shots are borderline strategic for the Coogs. They simply grab the rebound and stuff it back down opponents’ throats. But Duke wasn’t having that. Houston not only didn’t dominate the offensive glass, but even struggled on the defensive glass at times.
Why? Because Duke made it.
Sampson, coaching the 50th NCAA Tournament game of his 32-year head-coaching career, held his hands out, fingers spread wide, screaming for his team to find itself. Calling timeout down 18-10, he told CBS that something had to change. Cryer apparently heard him and got things going. A few 3s fell, and the Coogs kept the door on the frame.
Nevertheless, all looked lost with eight minutes to go.
Next comes Florida, a colossus of a matchup. While it was the Coogs who bounced the mighty Blue Devils, the Gators disposed of No. 1-overall seed Auburn to reach Monday night. The Gators came back from a nine-point second-half deficit to win 79-73, riding a 34-point performance by Walter Clayton Jr.
By night’s end, that comeback was but a footnote.
(Photo of Duke’s Cooper Flagg: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
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