By EDDIE PELLS SAN ANTONIO — Houston’s suffocating defense wiped away a 14-point deficit over the final eight minutes and erased Cooper Flagg and Duke’s title hopes Saturday in a 70-67 stunner over the Blue Devils at the Final Four. Duke made a grand total of one field goal over the last 10 1/ 2 minutes of this game. The second-to-last attempt was a step-back jumper in the lane by Flagg that J’Wan Roberts disrupted. The last was a desperation heave by Tyrese Proctor that caught nothing at the buzzer. It was Roberts’ two free throws with 19.6 seconds left that gave the Cougars their first lead since 6-5. LJ Cryer, who led Houston with 26 points, made two more to push the lead to three. It was Houston’s biggest lead of the night. The Cougars, who never won a title, not even in the days of Phi Slama Jamma, will play Florida on Monday night for the championship. Florida’s 79-73 win over Auburn in the early game was a free-flowing hoopsfest. This one would’ve looked perfect on a cracked blacktop and a court with chain-link nets. That’s just how Houston likes it. It closed the game on an 11-1 run, and though Flagg finished with 27 points, he did it on 8-for-19 shooting and never got a good look after his 3 at the 3:02 mark put the Blue Devils up by nine. It looked over at that point. Houston was just getting started. A team that prides itself on getting three stops in a row — calling the third one the “kill stop” — allowed a measly three free throws down the stretch. Houston finished with four blocked shots, including four from its eraser, Joseph Tugler. ...read more read less