Cooper Flagg, Duke left to ponder ‘what if’ after dream season turns into nightmare with stunning Final Four loss to Houston

Cooper Flagg, Duke left to ponder ‘what if’ after dream season turns into nightmare with stunning Final Four loss to Houston

SAN ANTONIO — Eyes determined, knees bent, Cooper Flagg held the ball on the wing and waited for the ideal moment to attack.

He had one chance to erase a one-point deficit, one chance to preserve Duke’s flickering title hopes, one chance to erase the memory of a stunning late-game collapse.

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At first, Flagg drove left and got Houston’s J’Wan Roberts on his hip, but a help defender stepped into his path. Flagg then backed Roberts down, turned over his left shoulder and used his off hand to create some space. The short pull-up jumper that Flagg attempted is one that he has hit dozens of times this season. This time, he clanked it off the front rim, sending the Houston fans in the Alamodome into a state of red delirium and leaving his star-laden Duke team shattered and shell-shocked.

When asked to describe that sequence after Duke’s 70-67 Final Four loss, Flagg said that the Blue Devils executed the play head coach Jon Scheyer drew up.

“Took it into the paint, thought I got my feet set, rose up,” Flagg said. “Left it short obviously, but it’s a shot I’m willing to live with in that scenario.”

Outside Duke’s locker room, Scheyer offered similar thoughts.

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“For the rest of my life, I’ll have no regrets with No. 2 with the ball six feet from the basket,” he said.

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