At Final Four, Houston slowing Duke's Cooper Flagg could come down to a stopper named Joseph Tugler

SAN ANTONIO -- — Pretty much every basketball fan has heard of Duke's Cooper Flagg. Nowhere near as many have heard of Houston's Joseph Tugler.

If the Cougars are going to spring an upset over the Blue Devils in the all-1-seed Final Four on Saturday, it will almost surely be because one of the country's best defenders, Tugler, played a big role in holding down the country's best overall player, Flagg.

“Take away his right hand, don't let him get into his spin move, make him earn his shot,” Tugler said, in ticking off Houston's version of a scouting report that is similar to what has been tried by Duke's 38 previous opponents, with minimal success.

And this: “I can guard anybody if I put my mind to it.”

Coach Kelvin Sampson has a gritty team full of players like that.

A team built around stifling defense might not put a ton of clips on the weekly highlight packages, the way Flagg and the Blue Devils (35-3) do.

But a better illustration of what makes Houston (34-4) click might come from a viral video that shows a loose-ball drill the team runs, usually early in the season or, as the coach said, whenever someone needs it.

It starts with a ball being pushed onto the court — or with a bricked free throw — and devolves into chaos, with players diving on the floor, jumping on each other trying to gain possession. Tackling, it appears from the video, is allowed.

Tugler suggested that the losing “team” has to run. Sampson was less concrete on the rules of the drill as its purpose.

“Everything is a competition,” the coach explained. “But like our kids say, it’s not for everybody. But it is for the ones that are here.”

Asked to analyze Flagg's game, Sampson — in his 36th year coaching and at his third Final Four and second with Houston — started mentioning players his teams have faced over the years: Carmelo Anthony, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Paul Pierce.

“This guy is right there with them,” the coach said. “It's hard to say what he's not good at.”

Flagg, the 18-year-old freshman who is averaging 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds, picked up the AP player of the year award on Friday, along with the Oscar Robinson Award to add to his quickly filling trophy case.

He is virtually certain to be the top pick in the NBA draft later this spring.

Last weekend, Flagg played arguably the best game of his short college career — a 30-point, six-rebound, seven-assist masterpiece in a Sweet 16 win over Arizona. Two nights later, he was off target but still ended up with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a 20-point win over Alabama.

Tugler's honors: Big 12 defensive player of the year and winner of the Lefty Driesell Award given by College Insider Inc. to the nation's best defensive player. Since joining the starting lineup in December, he's averaged 1.9 blocks a game.

Some other Houston stats say a lot. The Cougars are rated first in the KenPom defensive efficiency category. On offense, they are ranked 360th out of 364 teams in possessions per 40 minutes, a figure that plays into the defense because the long possessions shorten games and cause teams to expend energy defending them.

The Cougars lead the nation in field goal percentage allowed (38.2%) and points allowed (58.3).

Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who has seen Houston in a scrimmage two years ago and in a 54-51 Sweet 16 win last season — before Flagg arrived — says the numbers don't fully do it justice.

“They have good individual defenders,” Scheyer said. “But I think, by far, the best thing they do is how they have five guys always moving together.”

Tugler described it that way, too. Always helping. Always moving together. Great defenders might not get as much love as the guys jacking up 3s, but Tugler doesn't mind. He says Houston's version of the “3” comes when it stops a team on three straight possessions.

“We call that the ‘kill stop,’” Tugler said. “After we get that third one, we always feel like, ‘Let’s take this over.'"

Coach Heathcoate calling

Sampson reminisced about his first head-coaching job at Montana Tech. He left Jud Heathcoate's staff at Michigan State and went 7-20 without winning a conference game in his first season.

“Jud calls up and said, ‘Hey, Kel, I just want to congratulate you. You’re the only coach ... that possibly could have taken Montana Tech from obscurity to oblivion,'” Sampson said.

Ink for the win

Scheyer was surprised to learn that Flagg's mom, Kelly, has entered a pact with other team moms to get tattoos to commemorate a Duke national title if there is one. Will the coach participate?

“I’m making my wife get a tattoo with them if that’s what’s going to happen," Scheyer said. “I would even consider getting one if we win.”

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