Houston shocks Duke, advances to national championship: Live updates and reaction from men’s Final F

[Elderberry]

The Athletic by Austin Green 4/6/2025

Houston will face Florida in the final on Monday after pulling off a miraculous late comeback

Houston shocks Duke in Final Four

Houston has advanced to the national championship for the first time since 1984 and the third time overall after stunning Duke 70-67 in the Final Four.

Seeking their first ever national title, the Cougars will face Florida in the final on Monday after the Gators beat Auburn in tonight’s first semifinal.

Houston trailed nearly the entire game and was down by nine with 2:30 remaining before finishing on a 15-3 scoring run and taking the lead with 19.6 seconds left. Cooper Flagg, hours after winning the Wooden Award, had the chance to retake the lead for the Blue Devils with a midrange jumper with eight seconds remaining but left it short.

L.J. Cryer led the Cougars with 26 points and Emanuel Sharp added 16. Flagg led all players with 27 points and added seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks, but it wasn't enough as Duke's first appearance in the Final Four in the post-Coach K era ended in a stunning defeat.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/live-blogs/duke-vs-houston-live-score-updates-march-madness-final-four-result/HEVwoG0GDmxE/

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Barkley had it right.  Duke was the better team but UH was more driven.

Reminds me of the insane way Loyola Marymount played defending national champion Michigan in the NCAA tournament in 1990.
That LMU team was the most driven in history as it absolutely destroyed Michigan 149-115 in the most spectacular 3 point performance in history.  One LMU player even made a free throw with his left hand to honor LMU player Hank Gathers who had recently died on the court of hear tfailure.

The tragedy of Hank Gathers and triumph of Loyola Marymount
John Gasaway
Mar 13, 2021.

Loyola Marymount easily captured the regular-season title in what was now called, as of 1989-90, the West Coast Conference. The conference tournament was scheduled to be held that year on the Lions' home floor, where Paul Westhead's team was bracketed with Gonzaga in the quarterfinals. After LMU won by 37 points, Bulldogs coach Dan Fitzgerald was asked if an early 10-0 run by Loyola had been the game's turning point. "The turning point may have been breakfast," he answered.

Gathers had accounted for 28 of his team's 121 points. "I'm the most doctor-tested man alive," he liked to say. His mother was in town for the tournament, and that Friday, Gathers told a reporter from Channel 2 in Los Angeles, "I feel great. I'm in the best shape of my life. My mom's out here, and I'm looking forward to some good home cooking." Gathers also informed a different reporter that his medication by this point was "almost down to nothing."

In the semifinals to be held the following day, Sunday, March 4, 1990, the Lions would face Portland. The game tipped at 5:00 p.m. Loyola Marymount was already ahead 23-13 in the opening minutes when, on yet another fast break by the Lions, Terrell Lowery delivered the platonic ideal of an alley-oop assist from just across half-court. Gathers was on the receiving end of the pass, and he elevated effortlessly to slam home one of his most thunderous dunks. Even in Westhead's system, plays this spectacular could not happen every minute. This would be what would stand out to the 4,000-plus people who would, inevitably, carry with them for the rest of their lives the memory of having been in Gersten that day: the fact that pandemonium could ever be enveloped and extinguished completely within a matter of seconds by silence.

Trotting back to take his position in the pressing defense, Gathers slapped Lowery's hand in acknowledgment of the assist, and, as he reached midcourt, turned to face Portland's inbound pass. He took two lateral steps to his right. Then he collapsed. Gathers had been unable to make any effort to break his fall, and the impact of a 220-pound man hitting the floor was loud. A spectator later said that even if you hadn't been watching Gathers at that particular moment, everyone heard him fall. Play stopped instantly, and players from both teams, including Lowery and [Bo] Kimble, instinctively went toward Gathers. He struggled to get up from the floor and was on his hands and knees, attempting to stand. By this time, he was surrounded by medical personnel who were telling him to stay down. Gathers went back down to the floor, on his back, and appeared to lose consciousness. The game clock was stopped with 13:34 remaining in the first half. It was 5:14 p.m.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30880702/the-tragedy-hank-gathers-triumph-loyola-marymount

[Elderberry]

Duke vs. Houston WILD Ending in Final Four - Final 2 Minutes | 2025 March Madness

Bleacher Report

Houston completes an unbelievable comeback in the final minutes to stun Duke and advance to the Men's National Championship Game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7RUmULSdHE

[Hoodat]

You misspelled 'Dook'.