Controversial Cooper Flagg foul haunts Duke after epic Final Four collapse against Houston

There were a number of moments that led to Duke’s crushing 70-67 Final Four loss to Houston on Saturday night in San Antonio — but one may particularly frustrate the rabid Blue Devil fan base more than the rest.

Duke’s lead — which had been nine with under 3 minutes left — was whittled to one with 25 seconds left after a turnover and a Joseph Tugler follow-up dunk.

Duke Junior Tyrese Proctor then missed the front end of a one-and-one and Cooper Flagg was called for an over the back foul on J’Wan Roberts that sent the sixth-year senior to the the line.

Roberts calmly sunk both ends of a one-on-one to give Houston its first lead since 4-2.

Nevertheless, whether the game should have been decided by those free throws will be a discussion for some time.

Flagg was desperately trying to get his hands on the ball but it did not appear as though Duke’s stud freshman actually went over the back.

“That’s a play on to me,” CBS’ Bill Raftery said on the call.

“I agree,” concurred fellow analyst and Duke legend Grant Hill.

“He was being screened out. Wow,” Raftery said to end the conversation.

The ball seemingly would have ended up in Houston’s possession any way with the ball deflecting to the Cougars’ LJ Cryer.

But it is still a shame such a classic Final Four matchup and epic comeback was spoiled somewhat by a ref controversy and allowed the game’s most crucial moment be decided at the free-throw line.

Many on social media felt similarly.

“That was an absolute horrible foul call vs Cooper Flagg. No way. No way,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith wrote on X.

“I don’t see how this is a foul on Flagg,” NFL analyst Warren Sharp wrote.

Other called the foul “ludicrous” and “atrocious.”

It was one part of what will go down as one of the more crushing losses in the storied program’s history.

Duke made one shot from the field in the final 10:31 of the game — a Flagg 3-pointer that made the lead 64-55 — as Houston’s relentless defense imposed its will.

Flagg had a final shot to put Duke back in front but a well-defended turnaround jumper came up short and Houston made two more free throws to push the lead to 3.

And a desperate last shot by Proctor was well off to complete the epic collapse.

“It was an incredible season,” said Flagg said, who scored 27 points and is now likely on his way to being the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft after an electric freshman season.

“Incredible people, incredible relationships that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. Didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but still an incredible year.”

Houston will play Florida, who beat Auburn 79-73 in the first game of Saturday evening, for the national championship on Monday night.