Men's Final Four takeaways: Houston stuns Duke with improbable comeback

The biggest turning point came when Duke turned the ball over an inbounds play with 25 seconds remaining in a three-point game. 

Houston immediately scored and cut the deficit to one point. 

Following a missed Duke foul shot on a one-and-one, Cooper Flagg was called for a foul on this play that allowed Houston to take a 68-67 lead with two foul shots of its own. 

L.J. Cryer was the star for Houston with a team-leading 26 points while also making six of his nine three-point attempts. 

Cooper Flagg did not have his moment for Duke

This could have been a special, magical day for Duke's top player.

It began with him becoming the seventh Duke player to win the Wooden Award as the most outstanding player in college basketball. 

Then he put together another monster stat line that saw him finish with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks. He was a force, and put together the type of performance that is going to make him a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

But when the chips were down in crunch time, it did not fall Flagg's way.

Along with getting called for the foul that ended up giving Houston the lead, he also had a potential go-ahead shot clank off the front of the rim as time ticked down. 

Flagg will still be remembered as an all-time great Duke player. Nobody is going to remember that finish when he gets announced as the top pick in the NBA Draft. In time, Duke fans will look back fondly on his brief career with the program. 

But the expectation was to win a national championship. That is what Duke plays for. And they fell short. Duke has not played in a championship game — or won it — since the 2014-15 season. For most programs that would be fine. That is an eternity for Duke.

Kelvin Sampson and Houston finally kicked the door down

Houston has been one of the best programs in the country for the past eight years. They have been a consistent top-10 team, they have won multiple games in every tournament, they have been a No. 1 seed three years in a row, and this is their second Final Four appearance over that time. 

The only thing they have been missing is a championship to validate all of that success and put themselves with the elites in college basketball. 

After knocking on the door for so many years, they finally knocked it down this season and will have a chance to win it all.