All year, Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars have been epitomized by grit. The team’s practices say it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether it be drills of fighting for offensive rebounds or players diving for loose balls, Kelvin Sampson’s squad has mastered the fundamentals and little details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when the Cougars were down nine with just over two minutes to play, they seemed unfazed and continued chipping away at the seemingly insurmountable 64-55 Duke lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It started with Emanuel Sharp gathering a full head of steam and blowing past SLAM cover star Cooper Flagg for an easy layup, cutting the deficit to seven. Then after a Joseph Tugler steal, Sharp drew a foul in the paint from Maliq Brown before calmly sinking both shots from the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Flagg and Sharp responded with two free throws each, Tugler reached in at the ball on the ensuing inbound, resulting in a technical free throw for Duke. Kon Knueppel stepped up to the line and calmly sank the technical free throw with over a minute to play. Knueppel’s free throw would be the last points Duke would score for the remainder of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Duke ran clock, Knueppel drove in the paint for a layup, but was met by Tugler, who launched the ball off the backboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Houston hurried down the floor and found Sharp, who pulled up from deep to cut the lead to three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n