No. 1 Duke got stunned by No. 1 Houston in a 70-67 loss in the national semifinal of the men’s NCAA tournament Saturday night, suffering a complete collapse at the end of the game.
The Blue Devils may have thought they booked their trip to the NCAA championship game after star Cooper Flagg made a clutch three-pointer to give his team a nine-point lead with just over three minutes left.
But, Flagg would later be involved in a controversial play that ended up costing Duke dearly.
With 20 seconds left on the clock and with Houston having cut the deficit down to one, Duke guard Tyrese Proctor went to the free throw line. Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Flagg got called for a foul on the rebound.
That sent Houston’s J’Wan Roberts to the line (the Cougars were in the bonus), who sank both free throws to give Houston the late lead.
CBS broadcasters immediately disagreed with the call on Flagg, saying that they would have liked to see the players “play on” in that scenario. Flagg appeared to make only minimal contact with Roberts when he reached for the ball:
At the end of the day, there’s no excuse for Duke blowing its second-half double-digit lead, missing key free throws and making just two field goals in the final 13 minutes of a Final Four matchup.
Still, the foul call on Flagg undoubtedly changed the game with many fans arguing the refs shouldn’t have played such a big role in the outcome: