Houston rallies to beat Duke 70-67 in the Final Four and advance to face Florida for the NCAA title

SAN ANTONIO AP Sorry guys Phi Slama Jamma is already taken How bout something simple like Comeback Kids National champs might be a possibility too Houston s no-room-to-breathe defense wiped away a -point deficit over the final eight minutes erased Cooper Flagg and Duke s title hopes and brought the Cougars within a win of a championship of their own Saturday night with a - stunner over the Blue Devils Led by Joseph Tugler s four blocks and an amoeba-like defense that smothers everything Houston held Duke to a grand total of one field goal over the last minutes The points were Duke s second-lowest output of its now-ended season The Blue Devils second-to-last attempt during their contest-ending -for- stretch was a step-back jumper in the paint by Flagg that J Wan Roberts disrupted The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer and sent Flagg and company shuffling off in shock We just had to keep that belief and keep the faith explained LJ Cryer who won a title with Baylor in and led the Cougars in this one with points This is the initiative s first trip to the final since which marked the official close of the Phi Slama Jamma era a fun-and-gun dunkfest that never won the title despite the efforts of Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon who was at the Alamodome for this one Lots has changed since then One constant Defense wins championship Houston has allowed the fewest points this season and even against Duke with Flagg Kon Knueppel points and a roster with five or six NBA prospects it made things impossible down the stretch Got to give them a lot of credit for what they do every single night they play Flagg mentioned We could have been a little bit more sharp down the stretch executing selected things At the end of the day you got to give them a lot of credit as well It was Roberts two free throws with seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since - Cryer made two more to push the advantage to three That matched Houston s biggest lead of the night The Cougars - who have never won a title will play Florida on Monday night for the championship Florida s - win over Auburn in the early competition was a free-flowing bundle of fun This one would ve looked perfect on a cracked blacktop and a court with chain-link nets Neither club cracked shooting That s just how Houston likes it It closed the championship on a - run over the final seconds and though Flagg the AP Participant of the Year finished with points he did it on -for- shooting and never got a good look after his at the mark put the Blue Devils - up by nine Knowing going into that meeting that he was the player of the year that he brought his band to the Final Four we knew it would be challenging Roberts mentioned Trailing - things looked dire for the Cougars But they were just getting started A club that prides itself on getting three stops in a row calling the third one the kill stop strung together two stretches like that broken up only by Flagg s Duke settled for a measly three free throws over the final minutes One came when Tugler got a technical for batting the ball from Sion James hands as he was trying to throw an inbounds pass That didn t make things any better for the Blue Devils On the possession following the technical Tugler rejected Knueppel then Emanuel Sharp points made a to cut the deficit to three Mylik Wilson stole the next inbounds pass and missed a game-tying but Tugler tipped it in to cut the deficit to one Proctor missed the front end of a -and- with seconds left to set the stage for the Roberts free throws Duke s slow walk off the court came through a phalanx of Houston fans who waved goodbye to Flagg who will likely be off to the NBA as the first pick in the draft Houston held Duke to shooting in the second half that was nearly lower than its first four games of the tournament which included a blowout over the nation s best offense Alabama in the Elite Eight We held that squad to points Houston coach Kelvin Sampson mentioned marveling at what they d done The Cougars finished with six steals and six blocked shots and a bunch more altered by Roberts and Tugler who might be the best shot blockers to wear that Cougars uniform since Olajuwon himself There are no stats however for the heart Houston revealed after the country s best member had all but buried them with minutes to go Cooper was not going to beat us by himself Sampson disclosed Even when we were down these guys will tell you what I was talking about in the huddle was Just hang in there hang in there ' Big win for AI The huge comeback also netted a million win for artificial intelligence An AI disruptor bet a professional gambler that his project could do a better March Madness bracket and it all came down to the Duke-Houston match Even if the Houston loses in the final the AI bracket will get more points in the contest and the disruptor Alan Levy will pocket the million AP March Madness bracket https apnews com hub ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage https apnews com hub march-madness Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here Source