SAN ANTONIO — To advance to Monday’s national title game, Houston will have to beat Duke, the favorite to win the NCAA championship, and Cooper Flagg, the recently named Associated Press Player of the Year, on Saturday.
But the Cougars, the best defensive team in the country, believe they have a game plan to slow Flagg down.
“We just know we have to guard,” Joseph Tugler, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year who has averaged 5.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks this season, said Friday. “He’s their star player. He wants to score the ball. We’ve got to stop him. Stop him first. We have to take away his first shot and make him a passer. Take him away from the game.”
J’Wan Roberts, an all-Big 12 defensive team and all-Big 12 first team selection, agreed with his teammate and said the Cougars have to make Flagg “uncomfortable” on Saturday via their physical style of defense.
That same style limited Tennessee to 15 points in the first half of their Elite Eight matchup with Houston on Sunday, the lowest tally in a single half for a top-two seed in NCAA tournament history.
“No one likes dealing with physicality, especially when you’re playing the game of basketball,” Roberts said. “You want to be able to get the perfect shot up. You want to do everything smoothly, but if somebody is in your airspace, you’re not as comfortable as you would be [normally]. When you have a team like us that takes pride in defense and limits teams to one shot most of the time, it’s kind of hard to get into the groove of the game, especially compared to a team that lets you be comfortable.”
During the NCAA tournament, Flagg has been comfortable. He has averaged 19.5 points per game, while connecting on 42% of his shots from beyond the arc and 87% of his free throw attempts. He has also averaged 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
Defending the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft will demand a team effort, Tugler said. He added that Houston’s goal against any team is to frustrate the opponent by getting three stops in a row. The Cougars call that string a “kill stop.” To put themselves in that spot against Duke, the Cougars know they’ll have to challenge Flagg.
“We have to take away his right hand, make him go to his spin move,” Tugler said. “We have to make him earn his shot and work for it. We have to make it hard for him and help out, help each other out.”
On Friday, it was clear that the Cougars understood the monumental task ahead against a first-year talent who is arguably the best player in America. Though they admire Flagg and the skill set that has led to a multitude of postseason accolades, they said they’re ready to play the same brand of basketball that has helped the team go 30-1 since Nov. 30.
“He’s a great player,” Milos Uzan said. “We have a lot of respect for him. But at the end of the day, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to compete. I feel like we’re going to do whatever it takes to get the win.”
