By ADAM ZAGORIA
Zion Williamson and Duke are headed to the Sweet 16 in Washington D.C.
But only by the slimmest of margins.
The Blue Devils, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, escaped with a 77-76 win over UCF in Columbia, S.C., but only after UCF had two chances for a game-winning shot to drop.
R.J. Barrett scored on a go-ahead putback with 11 seconds remaining but UCF had one last chance to win it with 8.1 seconds left. B.J. Taylor’s initial jumper with 3 seconds remaining hit the rim and Aubrey Dawkins’ putback rolled around the rim and teased and taunted the basketball world before rimming out.
“We made a couple big plays here,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said on air. “R.J. and Zion, they willed us. And then we were lucky.”
It would have been a massive upset. The No. 1 overall seed would have gone crashing out, the careers of the projected top-2 picks in the NBA Draft would have ended and a million brackets would have been busted.
Duke came this close to elimination. pic.twitter.com/XQe2Ku0IRH
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 24, 2019
A finish for the ages. ?#MarchMADNESS | @DukeMBB pic.twitter.com/nxpMH3G2Bz
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 24, 2019
Just watched the replays of the Zion drive and also the R.J. offensive putback off the missed FT.
Looked like Zion extended his left arm on B.J. Taylor on the drive, and also R.J. pushed Dawkins to get the board.
Duke got a favorable whistle. Not exactly shocking.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 24, 2019
Williamson finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and Barrett had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Dawkins went for 32 points for UCF and Tacko Fall had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“We end in tears…that’s because we’ve invested so much in each other.
I love you guys. It’s been amazing coaching this group.” –@Coach_Dawkins pic.twitter.com/B58DbNZzWO
— UCF Men’s Hoops #GKMO (@UCF_MBB) March 25, 2019
Photo: Duke
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