No. 1 Duke got stunned by No. 1 Houston in a 70-67 loss in the national semifinal of the men’s NCAA tournament Saturday night, suffering a complete collapse at the end of the game.
The Blue Devils may have thought they booked their trip to the NCAA championship game after star Cooper Flagg made a clutch three-pointer to give his team a nine-point lead with just over three minutes left.
But, Flagg would later be involved in a controversial play that ended up costing Duke dearly.
With 20 seconds left on the clock and with Houston having cut the deficit down to one, Duke guard Tyrese Proctor went to the line for two free throw attempts. Proctor missed both, and on the second miss, Flagg got called for a foul on the rebound.
That sent Houston’s J’Wan Roberts to the line (the Cougars were in the bonus), who sank both free throws to give Houston the late lead.
CBS broadcasters immediately disagreed with the call on Flagg, saying that they would have liked to see the players “play on” in that scenario. Flagg appeared to make only minimal contact with Roberts when he reached for the ball:
Cooper Flagg called for a foul here. This gives Houston free throws on the other end. The announcers do not like the call pic.twitter.com/JwSNz6UWrB
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) April 6, 2025
At the end of the day, there’s no excuse for Duke blowing its second-half double-digit lead, missing key free throws and making just two field goals in the final 13 minutes of a Final Four matchup.
Still, the foul call on Flagg undoubtedly changed the game with many fans arguing the refs shouldn’t have played such a big role in the outcome:
Certainly a big choke by Duke but man… that over-the-back call on Flagg was absolute nonsense
— Carson Breber (@Carsobi) April 6, 2025
Nothing worse than a ref making an unnecessary call that has a vital impact on the outcome of a game
I don’t see how this is a foul on Flagg pic.twitter.com/4BchUU1ik6
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 6, 2025
What a ludicrous foul call on Cooper Flagg
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 6, 2025
That was an absolute horrible foul call vs Cooper Flagg. No way. No way.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 6, 2025
lol that was not a foul on Flagg.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) April 6, 2025
NOT A FOUL ON FLAGG. COME ON.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 6, 2025
Calling that foul…in this type of game..with this amount of time left is complete BS. It’s a loose ball smh
— Austin Rivers (@AustinRivers25) April 6, 2025
Duke did plenty on their own to create this situation but that foul call on Flagg was a disgrace lol
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) April 6, 2025
This Duke ending is crazy.
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) April 6, 2025
Duke missing free throws, bad inbounds, etc.
Then a weak foul called on Flagg to give 2 free points for Houston to take the lead.
Madness.
Duke was -10000 in the last bit of this game. 🤯
2 things can be true here about Duke’s loss to Houston
— Dylan Mehl (@DylanMehl) April 6, 2025
1. This was a TERRIBLE foul call on Cooper Flagg
2. Duke sold this game themselves, the refs didn’t blow a 7 point lead in 90 seconds
pic.twitter.com/dNGiNsIY72
More College Basketball on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fans Thought Refs Got Game-Changing Call on Cooper Flagg Wrong in Duke's Final Four Loss.
