College basketball’s national championship will come down to Houston and Florida.
Houston advanced to the program’s third title game by charging past Duke 67-64 despite trailing by 14 points with eight minutes remaining, shocking the Blue Devils with a comeback in the night’s second semifinal of the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas.
It followed another rally that saw the Gators top Auburn.
In the first Final Four featuring all four No. 1 seeds since 2008, Florida trailed by eight points at halftime but won 79-73 by summoning their third comeback of this tournament behind 34 points from star guard Walter Clayton Jr. It was the most points scored in a national semifinal since 1989, when Duke’s Danny Ferry also scored 34 and, on the heels of another high-scoring outburst in the Elite Eight, landed Clayton Jr. in esteemed company.
In the night’s second semifinal, Duke was harried during the opening minutes by the Cougars’ nation-leading defense, but quickly found its rhythm behind freshmen Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg while taking a 34-28 halftime lead. That lead grew to 14 with eight minutes left, only for Houston to go on a 10-0 run as Duke failed to score a field goal for more than seven minutes until Flagg drained a critical 3-pointer with three minutes to play. The shot extended Duke’s breathing room to nine points, but the game took a turn yet again with two minutes to play.
Behind a defense that was ranked as the country’s best entering the tournament, Houston used a full-court press to fluster Duke’s inbounding and score seven unanswered points in 15 seconds — part of a larger 13-3 run over 1:48 — to take a 68-67 lead with 17.2 seconds remaining. Still with an opportunity to take the lead, Duke put the ball in the hands of star freshman All-American Flagg, but his shot was short, and the Cougars would not be denied an opportunity to tangle with the Gators for the national title.
Flagg displayed why he is considered the presumptive No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft by finishing with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists and just one turnover, but Houston’s Emanuel Sharp was more dominant down the stretch as he scored nine consecutive points for his team at one point; he finished with 16, while teammate L.J. Cryer scored 26.
Duke was attempting to win its sixth national title, and first since 2015. Instead, Houston will play for the national title for the first time since consecutive appearances in 1983-84. Florida, led by 39-year-old Todd Golden in his third season, won consecutive titles in 2006 and 2007. Both Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, 69, and Golden are coaching in their first national championship.
Final: Houston 70, Duke 67
What a comeback!
The Houston Cougars are heading to the national title game after a come-from-behind win over the Duke Blue Devils.
The Cougars ended the game on a 22-8 run to clinch the victory. Duke couldn’t hit a miracle 3 to tie the game on their last possession as time expired.
Cooper Flagg misses go-ahead shot!
Cooper Flagg missed a short fadeaway in the paint after Houston took the lead. The Cougars got the rebound and go to the line leading 68-67 with 3.7 seconds to go.
Houston takes the lead!
The Cougars have their first lead since they were up 6-5, taking a 68-67 lead after two J'Wan Roberts free throws.
How did Roberts get to the line? Cooper Flagg was called for an iffy over-the-back foul after a missed free throw by Tyrese Proctor.
It’s a one-possession game!
An Emanuel Sharp three has brought Houston within one possession late in this game. Duke’s lead is down to 67-64 with 32.4 seconds to go.
Key Houston player close to fouling out
Milos Uzan, the hero of Houston's Sweet 16 win over Purdue thanks to his last-second layup, has four fouls and is just one away from fouling out with 3:44 to play. Uzan has scored seven points with three rebounds and is one of the uber-athletic defenders who have made the Cougars so difficult all season.
Houston needs to cut deficit with clock stopped
To do that, it will need to get to the free-throw line, something that has happened rarely tonight for the Cougars. Houston is 6-of-10 from the line, while Duke (13-of-17) has made more free throws than the Cougars have even attempted. You can attribute that disparity to a number of factors but often it comes down to one team being more willing to get into the paint.
Here come the Cougars!
Houston is on a 10-0 run to make this a 59-55 game with under 5 minutes to go.
Duke is playing an incredibly clean game
With 11:54 left in the second half, the Blue Devils have only two turnovers compared to Houston’s eight.
Duke’s ability to take care of the ball is one of the major reasons Duke leads by double digits. The Blue Devils have attempted four more field goals and five more free throws than the Cougars.
Their last turnover came with 11:26 left in the first half.
Will anyone else on Houston step up?
The Cougars are hanging around despite having essentially a one-man offense right now.
L.J. Cryer has 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and is the only player on the team in double digits for scoring. The rest of the team has 24 points on 9-of-28 shooting.
Houston is lucky to only be trailing 50-42 with 13:30 to go, but Cryer will need more help if the Cougars are going to come back.
Houston's magic number
Houston this season allowed the fewest points per game, at 58.3. It's a key factor why the Cougars have won 17 consecutive games entering tonight and are 34-4 on the season. In those four losses, however, Houston's opponents scored at least 73 points. Keeping the Blue Devils below that number could result in yet another win.
The second half is underway
The second half has begun in San Antonio with Duke leading, 36-28, after a quick early basket. We're 20 minutes away from settling Monday night's national-title matchup. Who you got?
Halftime: Duke 34, Houston 28
In a close game, Duke has a big advantage: Its 16 points scored in the paint so far, compared to Houston's six. Watch in the second half whether Houston can clamp down on Duke's paint scoring, and keep it off the glass. Cougars guard L.J. Cryer has a team-high 12 points while Duke freshman Kon Knueppel also has 12 to lead the Blue Devils.
Kon Knueppel is leading Duke so far
Freshman guard Kon Knueppel is Duke’s leading scorer with 6:44 left in the first half.
Knueppel has 9 points to lead all scorers. He also led the Blue Devils in scoring in the Elite Eight with 21 points.
Cougars break long scoring drought
Houston went 5 minutes, 12 seconds without scoring a field goal before Emanuel Sharp's 3-pointer with 8:25 to play before halftime mercifully broke the streak. When teammate J'Wan Roberts followed up with a layup on the next possession, the mini-run by Houston has pulled the Cougars within 18-15.
Houston winning rebounding battle so far
Houston has already grabbed five offensive rebounds to one for Duke. That disparity has been a factor for why Houston has four more shot attempts than Duke, yet it hasn't mattered because the Cougars have shot just 3-for-16 from the field while trailing 16-9 with 11:05 to play before halftime.
Houston’s offense needs to get going
The Cougars are down 14-8 after a 9-2 run by the Blue Devils.
Houston is shooting only 20% from the field, hitting 3 of its first 15 shots, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
L.J. Cryer has 5 points, but the rest of the team has combined for 3.
Cooper Flagg scores first points
Duke freshman All-American Cooper Flagg has scored his first basket of the Final Four, a deep 3-pointer for an 8-6 Duke lead. The Blue Devils started just 1-for-6 shooting while Houston started 2-for-10. Flagg then followed that shot with a dunk in transition that showed off the presumptive No. 1 NBA draft pick's versatility. With 12 minutes to play in the half, Duke leads, 14-8.
The next semifinal has begun
Top-seeded Duke, owners of the nation's most-efficient offense, and top-seeded Houston, which unleashes one of the country's most fearsome defenses, have tipped off in San Antonio. The winner will face Florida in Monday's national title game. Let's hope the second game of the night is as entertaining as the down-to-the-wire first.
Moments away from Duke-Houston
Players are being introduced and the ball will be tipped in a matter of minutes.
Florida will play for the national championship
The Gators defeat top overall seed Auburn, 79-73, to advance to Monday's NCAA championship, where they will play either Houston or Duke. The Gators trailed by eight at halftime before forcing Auburn into 12 second-half turnovers and watching guard Walter Clayton Jr. produce yet another memorable March performance. Clayton Jr. scored 34 points, making 11 of his 18 shots and five of his eight 3-pointers.
Walter Clayton Jr. is having a historic run
Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. finished Saturday’s semifinal against Auburn with 34 points, putting on another incredible shooting display, hitting 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
Clayton Jr. has back-to-back 30-point games, and has scored at least 20 in every round except one this tournament.
His back-to-back 30 balls in the Elite Eight and Final Four are the first since Larry Bird in 1979.
Free throws a regret for each team
In a game between such evenly matched opponents, free throws were critical. Florida shot just 21-of-30 from the line, while Auburn made 16 of its 23.
Turnovers hurting Auburn
Auburn had just two turnovers at halftime but in the second half it has been a very different story, with 12 Tigers turnovers, for 14 total. The most recent was a damaging turnover by otherwise solid Auburn guard Chad Baker-Mazara when he traveled while pump-faking a 3-pointer while down 74-68 with 53 seconds left.
Auburn has attempted two more field goals overall in this game, and that would have been a much bigger advantage — and thus, more opportunities to score — had they been able to trim those mistakes.
Is it too late for the Tigers?
Auburn trails 76-71 with 31 seconds to go. The Tigers just scored their first points in over three minutes thanks to a 3-pointer from Chad Baker-Mazara, but the Gators will have the ball when play resumes.
Auburn went cold at the worst time
The Tigers went scoreless for over three minutes after cutting the score to 69-68.
In that time, the Gators have scored five points to take a 74-68 lead with 53.5 seconds to go.
Big swing of momentum for Florida
With less than three minutes to play, the Gators have maintained the resolve that has allowed them to pull ahead despite trailing at the half. The latest example was when Thomas Condon badly missed a free throw, but got back on defense in time to draw an offensive foul on Auburn star Johni Broome. The play led to a Gators basket on the other end by — who else? — Walter Clayton Jr., and a 71-68 lead with 2:24 to play.
Florida leads 69-68 with 3:28 to go
Florida has taken the lead, 60-58
With 7:47 to play in the second half, Florida has come all the way back from its eight-point halftime deficit to take the lead behind Walter Clayton Jr.'s 24 points. He has been electric during this second half and has as many 3-pointers (four) as the entire Auburn roster.
It could be a worrisome sign for Auburn that they had the comeback-loving Gators on the ropes and couldn't put them away.
Auburn trying to summon its offense
Nearly nine minutes in, Auburn has scored only four field goals during this second half, which has allowed its lead to dwindle to 57-56 with 11:12 remaining. The Tigers are 4-of-11 from the field after halftime. To put their scoring issues in perspective, they've produced 11 points in the second half while Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. has 10 this half alone.
Walter Clayton Jr. is heating up
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr., coming off a 30-point game in the Elite Eight, is up to 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 11:12 to go.
Clayton Jr. is shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range and has been huge in the second half as the Gators have battled back from a nine-point deficit. Against Texas Tech one round ago, Clayton Jr. led a comeback with a barrage of late 3s.
Can he do it again against the Tigers?
Here come the Gators!
After Auburn pulled ahead late in the first half, the Gators have come storming back.
Florida has uncorked an 11-0 run in the first four minutes and change of the second half, taking a 51-49 lead with 15:30 to go in the second half.
The second half is under way
Florida comes out and scores immediately to begin the second half, trailing 46-40, before Auburn added a basket to regain its eight-point halftime lead. If this tournament has shown us anything it's not to underestimate Florida's ability to rally, so even though Auburn has held control of this game really since halfway through the first half, don't count out the Gators.
Halftime!
After a half of play Auburn leads Florida 46-38 and has led by as many as nine points. Each time the Tigers appeared to have opportunities to break the game open by even more, it seemed Florida star guard Walter Clayton Jr. answered with a critical basket to keep the Gators close.
Clayton scored a game-high 14 points, while Auburn star Johni Broome has 12 points. Auburn is shooting 51.5% to Florida's 44.4% shooting. Florida has work to do defensively, with zero steals.
Florida’s offense is cooling off
The Tigers have opened up a bit of a lead as the Gators’ offense is starting to struggle.
Florida missed six threes in a row before a Thomas Haugh make with a little over two minutes to go. As a team, the Gators’ shooting has fallen under 45% after hovering around 55% to start the game.
Up by six, Auburn has largest lead
Auburn took its biggest lead of the game so far when Denver Jones scored a layup with 4:25 before halftime to take a 33-27 lead. Florida came right back and scored on a secondary break when Walter Clayton Jr. made a nifty Eurostep for a layup to make the deficit a more manageable four points.
Florida's offense is sputtering
Four out of the Gators' last five possessions have failed to produce points and now they find themselves down 29-25 with 7:34 to play in the first half. I've been continually impressed by how Auburn big man Johni Broome influences plays defensively; he was everywhere from pressure on the perimeter to a block in the paint on a recent possession that led to a layup on the other end for Auburn.
The stars are pacing themselves so far
Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. and Auburn big man Johni Broome have been two of the best players in the country this season. So far tonight, they’ve been steady but not yet spectacular.
Both Clayton Jr. and Broome have 6 points, and neither are the leading scorer on their team with about 10 minutes to go in the first half.
Clayton has hit two 3s, while Broome has also added two rebounds and a block.
At next timeout, Auburn leads 20-18
Chad Baker-Mazara of Auburn has a game-high eight points so far, with teammate Johni Broome, the SEC player of the year, also impactful from the outset with six points, a block and two rebounds. Since making their first three three-pointers, the Gators are 0-3 from deep.
So far, a back-and-forth matchup
With six lead changes less than six minutes into the game, Florida-Auburn has seen a fun start with both teams landing punches and Auburn leading, 16-14, at a timeout with 14:31 to go before halftime.
The teams have already combined to shoot 5-for-10 on 3-pointers, and that's pretty remarkable given the unique factor of playing inside such a large, domed stadium. As someone who got on the Final Four court in 2017 and got some shots up during media day, I can attest to how strange it is to initially shoot with such a deep background behind the basket.
Both teams are hot early
At the under-15 timeout, both Auburn and Florida are looking comfortable offensively.
The Gators are shooting 55.6% from the field compared to 54.5% for the Tigers. The teams have also combined to hit 5-of-10 shots from 3-point range. And on top of the hot shooting, there’s also been only one turnover between the two clubs.
The result has been some pretty satisfying back-and-forth action.
Florida-Auburn has tipped off
The first tournament meeting between these SEC rivals has begun. Both are veteran, both supported by stars. Who wins?
We're moments away from Florida-Auburn
The national anthem was just sung and starting lineups are minutes away.
Duke has arrived
These two standout centers started together in Africa before reuniting at the Final Four
Duke’s Khaman Maluach and Florida’s Rueben Chinyelu met at NBA Academy Africa, a hub for talented athletes throughout the continent. They used to dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Florida has two reasons to celebrate Saturday
Not only are the Gators playing in the Final Four, but legendary coach Billy Donovan was announced as a member of the 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame class.
Houston's X factor
L.J. Cryer has already won a national championship with Baylor and his nearly 42 percent shooting on 3-pointers has injected badly needed offense into a Cougars team that has struggled to score in big moments under coach Kelvin Sampson. Cryer isn’t the biggest name left in the tournament, but he knows like few others left what it takes to win.
Why I'm worried about the Gators
With just one loss since Feb. 1, the Gators might be the most talented team left. They also might be the one most likely to drive up its fans’ blood pressure, having flirted with disaster already twice in the tournament while trailing Connecticut late in the Sweet 16 and Texas Tech by double digits in the final minutes of the Elite Eight. That they emerged victorious is a credit to their resiliency and the playmaking under pressure of stars like star guard Clayton Jr., but it’s a worry they were in that position to begin with.
Keep an eye on Florida's Walter Clayton Jr.
Clayton Jr. has been on an absolute heater so far this postseason. He scored 23 points in each of the Gators’ first two tournament games before dropping 30 in the Elite Eight. Clayton Jr.’s performance in Florida’s comeback win over Texas Tech was breathtaking, especially his late barrage of 3-pointers to seal it for the Gators.
When it comes to this time of year, I want to watch a player who can catch fire and shoot the lights out of the ball. Clayton Jr. fits the bill, and Auburn will have its hands full trying to slow him down.
Is it good or bad we got four No. 1 seeds?
For the past decade there hasn’t exactly been a dearth of lower-seed Cinderellas to make the Final Four, and college basketball’s best attribute is its parity. Now, I’ll step down from my soapbox to say this: That hasn’t always led to compelling games once in the Final Four, however. And this season, with Florida, Duke, Auburn and Houston all looking a cut above during various stretches, the best basketball outcome fans could have received was watching these strength-on-strength semifinals.
Who doesn’t want to watch Duke’s historically efficient offense try to solve Houston’s top-ranked defense, or Auburn’s veteran-laden roster (led by player of the year candidate Johni Broome) attempt to derail Florida’s special season?