Kelvin Sampson breaks down Houston’s final defensive stand vs. Cooper Flagg

Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars pulled off an improbable comeback on Saturday night against Duke, as they advanced to the national title with a 70-67 victory.

The Cougars were down for much of the night, and were down by as many as14 points in the 2nd half. However, Sampson’s teams are known for competing to the end, and they were able to get back in the game.

Trailing by 6 with 33 seconds left, Emmanuel Sharp hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 3. Then the Cougars got a steal for a dunk, and knocked in 2 free throws to take a 68-67 lead with 19 seconds left. Every single person in the arena knew who was going to take the shot for Duke, and Cooper Flagg ended up with the ball in his hands.

Sampson talked about what the strategy was for the team, and what they needed to do to get the stop.

“Then obviously when Jon called timeout, everybody knows who’s going to get it,” Sampson said. “When he turned his back, we were going to actually go double him with JoJo, which means that Emanuel would have to take out Maluach. Not get the rebound, just make sure he does not get the rebound

“[Roberts] I thought did an awesome job of getting his hands up high enough that it wasn’t an easy look.”

J’Wan Roberts was the guy who was tasked with stopping Flagg, and Sampson on numerous teams has called him the best defensive player in the country. He delivered in a big way on Saturday night, as he was also the guy who knocked down the 2 free throws late to give the Cougars the final score.

Here’s a clip of Flagg’s missed shot at the end of the game:

Sampson and the Cougars will both be in search of their first national championship on Monday night, as Houston will take on Florida in the national championship game.

Mark Kern