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Fans React to Duke Blowing Late Lead to Houston in Wild Final Four Game

A crazy win by Houston and a brutal loss from Duke.

Liam McKeone

Duke lost a close game to Houston on Saturday night
Duke lost a close game to Houston on Saturday night / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
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On Saturday night Houston and Duke played in a March Madness classic.

The Cougars took down the Blue Devils, 70-67, in the Final Four to earn a spot in the national championship game. It was a tight game that got crazy at the end, as Duke blew a seven-point lead with 1:26 left thanks in part to a questionable foul on Cooper Flagg and a missed go-ahead jumper from the prospective No. 1 pick.

It was a truly shocking end to Duke's season after they were in control of the game most of Saturday night. The Blue Devils didn't just crumble in the last few minutes; they had a 14-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining and failed to close the door at several points. They recorded only one made field goal in the final 10 minutes.

It was a brutal loss for the Blue Devils faithful and the sports world couldn't believe just how badly they fell apart down the stretch with a spot in the title game on the line.

What a night of Final Four competition.

More March Madness on Sports Illustrated

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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