Duke forward RJ Barrett (5) passes to a teammate, away from Central Florida forward Chad Brown, left, during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament on Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Columbia, S.C.Sean Rayford/The Associated Press
Zion Williamson took on 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall at the end and won, and top-seeded Duke survived when two last-ditch shots by UCF rolled off the rim.
Aubrey Dawkins finished with 32 points, but his tip-in try just missed Sunday, and Duke advanced with a 77-76 victory to reach the Sweet 16.
Williamson had 32 points, including a layup over Fall with 14.4 seconds left and his team trailing 76-73. Williamson was fouled and missed the free throw, but RJ Barrett scored on a putback to put Blue Devils (31-5) ahead.
Ninth-seeded UCF (24-9) had a final chance, but B.J. Taylor missed a short jumper and Dawkins failed on his tip attempt with less than 2 seconds left. Duke got the rebound, ran out the clock and moved on to the Sweet 16 for 27th time and fourth time in the past five years.
Dawkins cringed at the miss. His father, Johnny, is the UCF coach and was a former Duke star and long-time assistant under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Barrett, of Mississauga, finished with 16 points.
Tennessee 83, Iowa 77
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two-time SEC Player Of The Year Grant Williams scored six points in overtime and Tennessee held off Iowa 83-77 on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in three years. Williams had a pair of free throws, two jumpers and a strip in overtime that helped the Vols (31-5) pull it out and match their school record for wins in a season. He finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Admiral Schofield scored 17 of his 19 in the Vols’ blistering first half. Tenth-seeded Iowa (23-12) fell behind by 25 points and nearly pulled off a monumental upset, sending it to overtime tied at 71, the first overtime game in this year’s tournament. Jordan Bohannon scored 18 for Iowa, which never led but managed to tie it twice after falling so far behind.
North Carolina 81, Washington 59
Columbus, Ohio -- Luke Maye and Nassir Little each scored 20 points and top-seeded North Carolina breezed past Washington. The Tar Heels (29-6) never trailed and moved on to face fifth-seeded Auburn on Friday in a Midwest Regional semi-final. Maye added 14 rebounds for North Carolina, a No. 1 seed for a record 17th time. The Tar Heels committed 10 turnovers in the first half, and led by eight points at the break. But they bolted out in the second half, put together a 13-0 run over 5 minutes and pulled away. Pac-12 Player Of The Year Jaylen Nowell paced Washington (28-8) with 12 points.