SAN ANTONIO -- Inside the Duke locker room, an atmosphere laden with tension and disbelief enveloped the players and coaching staff. The silence was palpable, broken only by the sound of a door slamming shut as each individual made their way to the adjacent coaches' locker room. Each bang of the door echoed through the space like a siren on a still night, a reminder of the calamity that had just unfolded on the court.

There is no preparation for the emotional turmoil that follows a team's dramatic collapse, especially one as staggering as squandering a six-point lead in the final 35 seconds of a crucial game. On Saturday night, the Duke Blue Devils were left stunned as they watched Houston mount an incredible comeback, scoring the last nine points in just 33 seconds to steal a 70-67 victory in the Final Four. As the final buzzer sounded, a heavy hush fell over the Blue Devils, who struggled to process what had just transpired.

Players wandered through the locker room, quietly grabbing slices of pizza from the ten boxes stacked high on a cooler filled with Powerade, their eyes glued to their phones in an attempt to avoid the gaze of waiting media members. One walk-on player emerged from the shower with tears welling in his eyes, while another could be seen scribbling in a journal, perhaps trying to make sense of the chaos.

They replayed the final moments in their minds, grappling with the reality of how a six-point advantage could vanish in a mere 20 seconds. Amid a series of turnovers, missed shots, and mental missteps, two critical moments contributed to the devastating meltdown, both involving star freshman Cooper Flagg—a foul and a missed shot in the closing seconds.

Flagg's missed 12-foot jumper—taken with Duke trailing by a single point—will be remembered as a defining moment of the game, one that will undoubtedly be replayed countless times in highlights. With only 17 seconds remaining, Duke had called a timeout to devise a plan, clearing out the lane for Flagg. He matched up against Houston's sixth-year senior, J'Wan Roberts, who stood at 6-foot-8. Flagg attempted a fadeaway jumper, but the ball clanged off the front rim, denying Duke a chance to regain control.

“It’s the play Coach drew up,” Flagg reflected after the game. “I took it into the paint, thought I got my feet set, and rose up. I left it short, obviously. It’s a shot I’m willing to live with in that scenario.”

There was no second-guessing the decision to allow Flagg to take the shot; rather, the reality was that it simply didn’t find the net.

“Cooper is the best player in the country, and when you get him in a spot he likes, it’s really as simple as that. We got exactly what we wanted,” Duke senior Sion James commented on Flagg's shot. “Sometimes shots go down; sometimes they don’t. That one didn’t.”

However, a more puzzling moment came just moments later when Flagg received an over-the-back foul while attempting to box out Roberts during a critical sequence. With 20 seconds left on the clock, Duke led 67-66 when Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a one-and-one. Flagg fouled Roberts, who had positioned himself effectively to secure the rebound, leading to a pivotal moment in the game.

The validity of the foul call will surely be debated among fans and analysts long after the dust settles, but it put Duke in a precarious situation. Roberts, a player with a 63% free throw shooting average, sunk both free throws, propelling Houston to a 68-67 lead and setting the stage for Flagg’s final shot attempt.

For a program known for its resilience and grit, Houston's victory was underscored by a key boxout that changed the course of the game. Kellen Sampson, an assistant coach and son of Houston’s head coach Kelvin Sampson, summed it up succinctly: “Discipline gets you beat more than great helps you win. I’ve heard that saying a hundred million times growing up. The more disciplined you are, the better you can execute those little moments that lead to victory.”

A boxout of that caliber proved vital in this tense matchup.

Regardless of the controversy surrounding the foul call, Flagg’s misstep forced Duke into a daunting position. The Blue Devils watched their once-comfortable lead evaporate as they fell from ahead by six points to trailing by one with only 19 seconds remaining. This foul marked the turning point of the game.

Houston's strategy to leave Roberts alone on Flagg—something they had not done earlier in the game—proved to be a crucial adjustment. Flagg had effectively dissected the Houston defense with his passing throughout the contest, prompting the Cougars to trust Roberts in one-on-one situations.

“At halftime, we decided to trust J’Wan,” said Sampson. “He has been doing a tremendous job defending Cooper one-on-one. We probably were over-helping too much.”

Houston's defensive prowess was on full display throughout the night, with a particularly telling statistic in the box score: Duke center Khaman Maluach went over 21 minutes without grabbing a rebound, finishing the game with a dismal plus-minus rating of -20.

Roberts' final contribution included contesting Flagg’s potential game-winning shot effectively.

“I thought he did an awesome job of getting his hands up high enough that it wasn’t an easy look,” Sampson noted regarding Roberts. “He made it tough for Cooper all night.”

Flagg concluded the match with 27 points, shooting 8-for-19 from the field. Unfortunately for Duke, the team saw a severe decline in offensive production, managing only one field goal in the last 10:30 of play.

As Flagg made his way to the locker room at 11:54 p.m., he found himself lost in thought, a towel draped around his neck as he reflected on the abrupt end to what could have been a remarkable season and what may be the conclusion of his college career.

Moments later, Duke coach Jon Scheyer passed by with his wife and athletic director Nina King in tow. The gravity of the defeat hung heavily in the air; the Blue Devils had just relinquished the fifth-largest lead in Final Four history. The echoes of this loss, much like the slamming door, will resonate deeply into the offseason.

“I keep going back to the fact that we were up six with under a minute to go,” Scheyer lamented. “We just have to finish the deal.”