Sixty-six March Madness games later, the men’s national championship game is set after a stunning finale to Saturday’s Final Four in San Antonio.
The Houston Cougars launched a late second-half comeback to upset the Duke Blue Devils and earn a shot at the national title. Kelvin Sampson’s team will play the Florida Gators, who put away the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed Auburn Tigers earlier in the night.
Read on for analysis from our reporters on-site at the Alamodome, plus a replay of our real-time coverage from both games.
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Final: Houston defeated Duke 70-67
How Houston won: Saturday’s Final Four matchup between Duke and Houston seemed like another stop on the Blue Devils’ march to a national championship, just another coronation for the looming Cooper Flagg and Duke title. After a Tyrese Proctor free throw put Duke up by 14 points with 8:17 left in the second half, the inevitable seemed closer than ever. But Houston stayed true to its culture — defense, toughness and offensive rebounding — to flip the game and stun Duke. The Cougars went on a 9-0 run in the final 35 seconds, taking the lead on two J’Wan Roberts free throws with 19 seconds remaining and then icing the game with two L.J. Cryer free throws with 3.7 seconds to go. Flagg came up short on a turnaround jumper on the next-to-last possession and Proctor’s desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was long. Cryer led the way with 26 points and six 3-pointers, while Flagg’s final college game featured a 27-point, 7-rebound, 4-assist performance in a losing effort. The Cougars have reached the title game twice before, in 1983 and 1984, but have yet to win a national title. — Jeff Borzello
No. 1 factor that helped Houston reach the title game: Houston’s physicality wore a young Duke team down.
Kelvin Sampson runs a drill in practice where he throws a ball onto the court and a pair of players wrestle to grab it. That physical approach has made the Cougars the best defensive team in America. Throughout Saturday’s game, it was clear that Duke had the size advantage with a fleet of players 6-foot-5 or taller on its roster, but in the final minutes, the up-close-and-personal approach to defense that Sampson has employed throughout his tenure with the Cougars wore the Blue Devils down. With 8:17 to play in the game, Duke had a 59-45 lead. Then Duke fell apart and scored just eight points the rest of the game, and Houston rallied. J’Wan Roberts and L.J. Cryer both hit big free throws down the stretch, and Joseph Tugler had a key dunk late, too. Overall, Houston refused to break. And the same defensive prowess that led the Cougars to the Final Four also helped them pull off the upset over a Blue Devils team that had been favored to win the national title for months. The No. 1 defensive team in America played like the No. 1 defensive team in America on Saturday night. — Myron Medcalf
Final: Florida defeated Auburn 79-73
How Florida won: Whenever things begin to fall apart, Florida turns to its star — it’s in those moments when the best version of Walter Clayton Jr., an AP first team All-American, shows up. It happened again Saturday, as Clayton took it upon himself (again) to ruin Auburn’s dreams and send the Tigers home when he scored a game-high 34 points. A late 3-point play — a bucket and a free throw after a foul — sealed the win for a determined Florida squad. Down by nine points early in the second half, the Gators turned to their hero, who extended his postseason display of back-breaking shots as he led Florida out of another hole to help the program advance to the national title game Monday night for the first time since 2007, when the program won back-to-back national titles. — Myron Medcalf
No. 1 factor that helped them reach the title game: Walter Clayton Jr.
It’s always Walter Clayton Jr., isn’t it? The senior guard became the first player since Larry Bird in 1979 to produce back-to-back 30-point games in the Elite Eight and national semifinals, according to ESPN Research. He finished with 34 points and five 3-pointers, leaving Auburn completely helpless on how to defend him. Florida looked stagnant offensively with him on the bench in the first half, but came to life when he got going after the break. Auburn had no answer for his stunning shotmaking ability. Bruce Pearl switched his big wings onto Clayton, but it didn’t matter. Contested shots, getting run off the 3-point line, Clayton still found a way. It was a remarkable performance. — Jeff Borzello
Final Four live tracker
