This was supposed to be Cooper Flagg’s moment.
The Duke Blue Devils phenom has had his way with opponents all year, every bit living up to the billing of being a generational prospect. The 6-foot-9 forward showed off his all-around ability on the way to being named the National College Player of the Year after averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
His dominant play led the Blue Devils to winning their games by an average margin of 21.1 points per game, by far the best margin in the country.
Duke only led by six points at the end of the first half against the Houston Cougars in their Final Four matchup. However, they quickly established their dominance in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Flagg – who struggled a bit in the first half while scoring only eight points on 3-of-8 shooting – started putting his imprint on the game after scoring 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The future No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft became very aggressive in stretching Duke’s lead, putting himself at the free-throw line for five attempts.
That lifted the Blue Devils’ lead to 13 points before reaching a peak of 14 points with 8:17 remaining in the second half.
And then the comeback started.
The Blue Devils scored just nine points in the last 10-and-a-half minutes. The Cougars slowly chipped away at the Blue Devils’ lead, but it wasn’t until the No. 1 defensive unit in the country kicked in their full-court press defense with two-and-a-half minutes remaining that it became apparent that this was now their game to win.
“There were multiple plays,” said Emanuel Sharp after the game when he felt like this was Houston’s game to win. “When Joseph Tugler got that dunk, it felt like we were in it. When I made that three, it felt like we were in it. As long as were in single digits, I felt like we were in it. And we were still in it.”
While trailing 67-61 with with 47 seconds remaining, the Cougars went on a 9-0 run to complete the fifth-biggest comeback in Final Four history while forcing Flagg to miss a potential game-winning jumper with eight seconds remaining.
“We held them to 37% the second half,” said Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson after the game. “We held that team to 67 points. That was a tempo we could live with. We could not win this game in the 80s. We couldn’t score 80. I felt like we could win the game in the high 60s or low 70s. I felt that way going in.”
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to end for the future No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
This was supposed to be his moment where he established himself as one of the greatest one-and-done college players of all time. It was supposed to be Flagg taking center stage before his eventual capstone moment by winning the National Championship in San Antonio after winning the National College Player of the Year award.
Instead, it went all down the drain once the No. 1-ranked defensive unit coached by Sampson finally kicked in.
“It was an incredible season,” said Flagg while tearing up following the loss. “Incredible people, incredible relationships that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. Didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but still an incredible year.”
Houston’s stifling defense over the last couple of minutes in the game certainly played a major role, but Duke’s lack of experience in playing in close games this season also caught up to them.
“For sure,” said Cougars guard Milos Uzan when asked if Duke’s lack of experience playing in close games cost them. “They don’t have many late-game pressure games like that. Once we got it close, we were able to start pressing them and you could definitely tell.”
The 18-year-old – he won’t be 19 years old until December of this year – will undoubtedly move on from this loss to become the NBA’s next great star. It’s hard to describe the impact that Flagg has on a game, but his athleticism, motor and versatility make it hard to find a player comparison for him.
Blue Devils alum Jared McCain – who hosted Flagg on his recruiting trip – says he has a hard time coming up with a player comp for the 6-foot-9 forward, calling him “one of one.”
While McCain says he’s heard of comparisons to Kevin Garnett, it’s fair to conclude that Flagg may be more dynamic and athletic than the Hall of Fame big man.
But this one stings, especially when considering the amount of praise Flagg had received prior to the game during the 2025 Naismith Hall of Fame press conference by inductee Carmelo Anthony.
“He has some similarities to the run I had,” said Anthony just prior to Duke’s upset loss against Houston. “I just love watching him as a player. I said this the other day to somebody: If he can go get this championship, then he sits at the small table at Duke university. There’s one more seat left, and he has the opportunity to go pull that seat up.”
Flagg had received comparisons to Anthony due to the latter leading the Syracuse Orange to a National Championship title during his one-and-done season in 2003. Anthony was also named the NCAA Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player that year.
The 40-year-old did mention how the game has changed a lot two decades later where his team was a bunch of “happy-go-lucky kids” with little expectations. Now, college basketball is a “real business” where you play at a program like Duke with the expectation you’re going to walk away with a National Championship.
He was supposed to end his college career the way Anthony did and begin his potential future Hall of Fame career with a title.
Instead, he’ll be forced to use this loss as fuel as he embarks on his pro career – an unfulfilled college legacy leading to what should become a dominant pro career.