Cooper Flagg 'Was Not Going to Beat Us by Himself,' Says Houston HC Kelvin Sampson

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson praised his team's defensive effort and focus in Saturday's 70-67 comeback victory over Duke in the men's Final Four.

He singled out Blue Devils freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, who had 27 and 16 points respectively. They were the only Duke players who scored more than seven points, and that was a big part of the Cougars' game plan.

"We were really focused on those other guys," Sampson told reporters. "We did a great job of not allowing [guard Tyrese] Proctor to turn the corner and get in the paint off pin-downs. He's so good at that. We stayed down on every shot fake that he had. ... We did a great job on all the other guys. Knueppel, he made some tough threes. Cooper Flagg, Cooper was not going to beat us by himself.

"I felt like if we could just hang in there, even when we were down 14, these guys will tell you what I was talking about in the huddle was, 'Just hang in there, hang in there.'"

Houston really clamped down in the home stretch, holding Duke to three points in the final three minutes. No individual moment was bigger than when Cougars forward J'Wan Roberts stuck with Flagg and got up to contest a fadeaway jumper by the national player of the year. Flagg's shot hit the front iron.

In another consequential sequence, Roberts successfully boxed out the Blue Devils star and drew an over-the-back foul with 19.6 seconds on the clock. That set up a one-and-one, and Roberts hit both free throws to put the Cougars up 68-67.

Duke's total output was well below its season average (83.2 points), and it shot nearly 10 percent worse from the field (39.6) than its usual rate.

Sampson said his mindset going in was that "we could not win this game in the 80s." He wanted a score in the 60s or 70s.

The Cougars achieved exactly that, and they're in the national championship game as a result.