Late-game collapse ends Duke's season

Houston scores last nine points in 70-67 win.

A great Duke season ended in the worst possible way, a late-game meltdown that left Houston on top 70-67 as the clock hit zero. It seemed like a game that Duke had under control, then slowly, ever so slowly it just slipped away, a turnover here, a missed free throw there and those Houston offensive rebounds that we were so worried about, one after another after another.

And L.J. Cryer. Yey. Him.

Neither team shot well overall. But Houston hit 10 of 22 from beyond the arc, Duke 7 for 17, while the Cougars outrebounded Duke 42-31, 18 to 10 on the offensive boards.

Duke seemed to have Houston on the ropes time after time after time but never could deliver the knockout punch.

Duke led 31-19 with a couple of minutes left in the first half but Cryer, Milos Uzan and Cryer again knocked down 3s and it was 34-28 at the half.

It looked like a blip on te radar as Duke built its lead back into double digits, 50-40, then extending it to 56-42, with 11:54 left.

But Duke just could not keep Joseph Tugler or J’Wan Roberts off the glass; Khaman Malauach somehow managed to play 21 minutes without a single rebound.

Duke only had one field goal over the final 10 minutes, got stuck on 59 points for almost five minutes and got only four points off its bench.

And still had the game in hand, leading 67-61, with the ball and less than a minute left.

But that final 47 seconds, starting with Tugler blocking a Kon Knueppel layup, will haunt Duke basketball and I do not think that’s an exaggeration.

I’m still not sure how it happened and maybe that rebound foul on Flagg was a bad call. But in the final seconds Duke didn’t block out, had a turnover, missed the first end of the bonus and those are the basics and teams that don’t handle the basics in the final minute aren’t going to win close games. Duke didn’t and didn’t.

Flagg ended with 27 points, Knueppel 16.

But no one else scored in double figures, guards Tyrese Proctor, Sion James and Caleb Foster combined to shoot 5 for 20 from the field. Number six is going to wait at least another season and it’s going to be a largely new roster seeking it.

A post-mortem after some more time to process.