No quit: How Houston pulled off the improbable to down Duke

Free throws

Houston had only attempted eight free throws through the first 32 minutes of the game. In the final eight minutes, it went 9-of-10 at the line, including 8-of-8 in the final 1:27. Free throws were a large part of the reason the Cougars were ousted from the 2024 tournament by Duke when they shot just 9-of-17 in a 54-51 loss.

Defending the three

Duke was just 1-of-3 from three in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Blue Devils were 6-of-14 in the first 30 minutes. Houston limited Tyrese Proctor to an 0-of-4 night from deep after he'd knocked down 16-of-25 in the previous four games. 

Kon Knueppel averaged 5.3 three-point attempts per game and was 3-of-5 against Houston. He only attempted one three — a miss — in the final 14 minutes. Duke's bread and butter all season had been the three ball, and Houston took it away to end Duke's season.

L.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp

Cryer buoyed Houston through much of the game, scoring a team-high 26 points. 24 came before the 7:43 mark of the second half. Sharp took over down the stretch, scoring nine of his 16 points in the final 2:05.

 "Houston is a team that doesn't quit"

"Houston is a team that doesn't quit," Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. "I mean, they're never going to stop. So my messaging throughout the whole way with the team was, understand this team doesn't go away. So no lead is safe with them."

It's as simple as that. The comeback didn't come without some roadblocks. Cryer turned the ball over with Houston down 10 and 7:14 remaining. Replays showed the ball was kicked out of bounds by Knueppel. An overzealous Joseph Tugler was whistled for a technical foul with 1:14 to play for reaching over the baseline while defending the inbounds pass.

At every turn, Houston continued. In the end, it punched its ticket to the national championship.