Kelvin Sampson raised his arms into the air. The Houston bench jumped with joy, and the fans in red outfits screamed loudest in the 64000-seater Alamodome stadium in Texas. Legendary sportscaster Jim Nantz let out tears of joy in the stands. It was by far the greatest comeback win in recent history and a place in the final for the Cougars after 1984.

It was two regional top seeds against each other in the 2025 NCAA Division I Final Four matchup. The elite defensive side, the Houston Cougars, is taking on the explosive Duke Blue Devils in an exciting match. And the game lived up to the expectation, going down to the wire till the final seconds.

For 30 minutes, Duke had a normal game, controlling the offensive end of the floor efficiently and controlling the paint. The Blue Devils looked well on their way to the national title game. Cooper Flagg had a great outing, Kon Knueppel supported well, while Khaman Maluach did his part efficiently.

But Houston had other ideas. Their tight defense, rebounding, and full-court press held Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils to one field goal in the final 10:31 en route to a stunning 70-67 come-from-behind win. Many fingers were pointed out, especially in the final minutes game where Duke’s ‘inexperience’ was exploited by the Cougar side.

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, highlighted a moment with just 21 seconds left on the clock, which led to a series of events handing Houston a decisive 4-0 run, closing the game, and winning the match by three points. Duke had inbound with just 25 seconds remaining in the game. Knueppel got the pass with two defenders on him instantly. Looking for an outlet pass, he threw the ball to Tyrese Proctor, who was open and was moving towards half-court.

He was fouled and had a chance to extend Duke’s lead. He not only missed the opportunity, but the Houston side took the defensive rebound. And later went on to score in the final moments, holding the opposition to a blank. Portnoy pointed out that Proctor could have passed the ball to Cooper, who was a better free-throw shooter. Proctor struggled throughout the game and scored just seven points with one rebound and 2 assists in the match.

Portnoy, founder and owner of Barstool Sports, with an estimated net worth of around $100 million as of April 2025, has been following the sport for a long time and considered the mistake by Proctor to cost Duke the place in the final.

Tyrese Proctor’s struggles affected Duke’s best chance of title

Blue Blood fans were happy with the proceedings when the team was leading by 10+ points in the match. Reason? The team had never lost a game under Jon Scheyer when leading by 10 or more points in the last 79 matches. 79. That’s a massive sample size, and the 100% record assured victory.

But the turnaround by Houston in the final quarter left everyone in shock. A shocker for Duke fans was the Australian guard Tyrese Proctor’s performance on the court. The 42.2% shooter for the season not only hit his lowest point in the decisive game but went 2-of-8 from the field. He even missed two crucial free throws and bricked all four of his three-point attempts.

But this is not the first time Proctor’s inefficiency let the side down. By the Elite Eight in 2024, he had hit rock bottom—0-for-9 from the field, 0-for-5 from deep in the loss against NC State Wolfpack.

Duke, the favorites to win the title with their golden young core, missed the big chance. Their star player, Flagg, is expected to leave the side to enter the NBA draft, while Maluach and Knueppel are also attracting massive interest from the scouts. If these three stars leave the side, Duke’s title chances will drop in the next season. Maybe Jon Scheyer and the Devils fans will have a long wait once again.