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 today, 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 Robertson 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, 9 rebounds and 3 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.

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

SEC’s Auburn, Florida meet in Final Four

Auburn and Florida are the last two standing of a record 14 Southeastern Conference teams that made the NCAA Tournament. Only one of them will get to play for the national championship.

The SEC regular-season champion Tigers (32-5) play the conference tournament-winning Gators in the first national semifinal game today at the Alamodome. The matchup pits All-Americans Johni Broome and Walter Clayton Jr. against each other yet again.

“The success that the league has had in the tournament has been pretty amazing,” said Gators coach Todd Golden, a former Saint Mary’s guard and USF head coach. “The league obviously (got) a lot of respect, a lot of notoriety after the nonconference. Once you get to elite play, people wonder how real it is. I believe the results we have had so far in the NCAA Tournament speak to that.”

Florida (34-4), which has won 10 in a row since the start of March, twice during the regular season beat No. 1-ranked SEC teams. The Gators first won by 30 points at Tennessee, then a month later had a 90-81 win at Auburn on Feb. 8 that solidified how they felt about their team.