SAN ANTONIO – In what was billed as a matchup of favorites versus veterans, the Duke Blue Devils took on the Houston Cougars in the second semifinal game of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
The Houston Cougars defeated the Duke Blue Devils 70-67 in the Final Four semifinal game, advancing to the championship and joining Florida in the title matchup.
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Here come the Blue Devils! @DukeMBB @ksatnews @KsatSportsNow #FinalFour #KSATsports #SanAntonio pic.twitter.com/s3EJP1Ek4L
— KSAT Nick Mantas (@KSATNick) April 6, 2025
Duke entered as the favorite, boasting a roster filled with young five-star talent, including freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, against a Houston team that featured several other players aged 23 and 24.
A SEA of red on the south side of the #Alamodome as the Houston Cougars have been roaring for every Cougs basket. #FinalFour #Houston #Duke #SanAntonio @ksatnews @KsatSportsNow pic.twitter.com/zzOsCLGmqb
— KSAT Nick Mantas (@KSATNick) April 6, 2025
The Blue Devils jumped out to a quick nine-point lead within the first 10 minutes, but the Cougars clawed back with a three-pointer from Emanuel Sharp and a layup from J’Wan Roberts, cutting the lead to three with five minutes left in the first half.
Duke responded with a 10-2 run over three minutes, extending their lead to 28-17 with two minutes remaining before halftime.
Houston’s L.J. Cryer hit a three-pointer with less than a minute to play in the first half, narrowing Duke’s lead to six at 34-28.
Discussions going into halftime as Duke leads Houston 34-28. The Blue Devils are out scoring the Cougars 16-6 in the paint but it’s the aggressive nature of Houston that’s helped them out rebound Duke, 22-17. 👀🏀 @ksatnews @KsatSportsNow #FinalFour #SanAntonio pic.twitter.com/EL26pUGZ8c
— KSAT Nick Mantas (@KSATNick) April 6, 2025
In the second half, Duke opened their perimeter shooting with three-pointers from Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Sion James.
Duke’s defense shut down the Cougars for most of the first 10 minutes of the second half, out-scoring them 24-17.
The Cougars made it an eight-point game with six minutes left after Cryer scored six straight points.
Houston cut the lead to four with just three minutes left, but Flagg hit a huge corner three-pointer and blocked what would have been a layup by Houston’s Joseph Tugler with just over two minutes left, extending Duke’s lead to 64-55.
Sharp made both free throws with less than two minutes left to play, cutting Duke’s lead to five at 64-59.
After the teams traded free throws, Tugler made a critical mistake by touching the ball while a Duke player was inbounding, resulting in a technical foul for Duke and possession of the ball.
Duke converted the free throw to make it a 67-61 game but could not make a basket on the possession.
On the next trip down the court, Sharp hit a three-pointer, cutting the lead to 67-64 with 32 seconds remaining.
Tugler redeemed himself by getting a put-back dunk, making it a one-point game 66-67 with 25 seconds left.
Duke’s Tyrese Proctor was fouled but missed his first free throw, and Roberts was fouled by Flagg, sending him to the free-throw line.
Roberts made both free throws, taking a 68-67 lead. Duke called a timeout with 17 seconds left, looking for a game-winning play.
Flagg got a chance to retake the lead but missed the jump shot with eight seconds left.
Proctor fouled Cryer, who made both free throws to extend Houston’s lead to 70-67.
Proctor got one last chance to hit a three-pointer to tie the game, but it was wide of the basket, sealing Houston’s comeback.
MADNESS in the Final Four!! #Houston was down 6 points with 47 seconds left and found a way to beat #Duke 70-67, advancing to Monday’s National Championship game. #FinalFour #MarchMadness @ksatnews @KsatSportsNow @UHCougarMBK pic.twitter.com/Ez5slMlVTI
— KSAT Nick Mantas (@KSATNick) April 6, 2025
“I said this after we beat Gonzaga: you’re not just beating a good team; you’re beating a great program,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said.
We’re hearing from the cardiac cats of #Houston who are sharing their reactions to their comeback win over #Duke. Coach Kelvin Sampson sharing that he was positive during the halftime speech, knowing they could win if they limited second chance opportunities. #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/koC5dnL2bQ
— KSAT Nick Mantas (@KSATNick) April 6, 2025
Houston guard L.J. Cryer was asked about coming through in the clutch and keeping the game close.
“We’re just resilient,” Cryer said. “We had a game like this earlier in the year — the Kansas game — this reminded me of that game. You know, it’s never over. As long as there is time on the clock, we’ve got to continue to fight, we kept believing, and we got it done.”
Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and head coach Jon Scheyer came to the press conference room after Houston.
A frustrated #Duke team is here sharing their disappointment in the loss to #Houston. Cooper Flagg saying that he wished they had better communication down the stretch. Kon Knueppel saying how defensively sound the Cougars were. @ksatnews @KsatSportsNow #FinalFour #SanAntonio pic.twitter.com/fzZRkGlc33
— KSAT Nick Mantas (@KSATNick) April 6, 2025
“They made incredible plays ... Houston is a championship caliber team ... really disappointed we couldn’t make one more play down the stretch,” Scheyer said.
The Florida Gators and Houston Cougars are advancing to the championship game, scheduled for 7:50 p.m. on Monday, April 7, as the Cougars aim to win their first national title in school history.