1-seed Duke basketball crumbled late to hand Houston a 70-67 Final Four victory, ending the Blue Devils' hopes of bringing a sixth national championship to Durham this season. The Blue Devils were up 66-59 with a minute and 14 seconds left in the contest then allowed the Cougars to close the game on an 11-1 run to win it.
Duke's dynamic rookie duo of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel led the way once again tonight in the loss. Flagg finished the contest with a game-high 27 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Knueppel contributed 16 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range to go along with 7 rebounds.
With 17 seconds left and the Blue Devils down by a point, the AP National Player of the Year and freshman sensation, Flagg, was handed the ball to take the last shot. Flagg pushed his way into the paint for a fadeaway jumper but left it short.
Flagg talked about the shot after the game in his postgame press conference.
"Yeah, I mean, it's the play Coach [Jon Scheyer] drew up," Flagg said. "Took it into the paint, thought I got my feet set, rose up, left it short obviously, but, I mean, it's a shot I'm willing to live with in the scenario, put one up on the rim, trust the work that I've put in."
Flagg was asked about the season as a whole and how he's reflecting on it, and Flagg was holding back tears giving his emotional response about his teammates and the year he had at Duke.
"It was an incredible season. 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."
Knueppel, Flagg's fellow freshman and partner all season, talked about what he and the rest of the team could've done to support Flagg and make it a team effort down the stretch against the Cougars.
"I mean, yeah it's always a team effort. You know, Coop had the hot hand, so obviously, he just won Player of the Year so we've got to get him the ball, he's a great, great player. And he made a bunch of great plays tonight, it was awesome. I thought he played a phenomenal game, and I thought we could've done a couple things to help him, too.
Knueppel and Flagg both later touched on how they want this 2024-25 Duke basketball team to be remembered in the future.
"I thought we had a phenomenal year," Knueppel said. "It was a joy to be apart of. I would just hope that the fans and everybody appreciates how we gave it our all every night, and appreciate how we played together."
"Yeah I would say very similar, just the connectivity of this team," Flagg followed with. "I know I can speak for myself and I think the rest of the guys that the connections and relationships we were able to have all year long, it was phenomenal, like, I wouldn't have wanted it to be with anybody else. So I hope that was able to shine through on the court and people that can remember us and appreciate the way we were able to play and the effort we gave for one another."
Both rookies are likely headed to the NBA, as Flagg is a shoo-in to be selected with the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and Knueppel is projected as a top-ten pick. Regardless of how the season ended, Knueppel and Flagg were two of the most electric freshmen the Duke program has had in a long time and this season won't be forgotten any time soon.