Top-seeded Duke survives scare from Central Florida

The Associated Press

6 years ago

Central Florida center Tacko Fall (24) defends against Duke forward Zion Williamson (1) during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Sunday, March 2 ... — Central Florida center Tacko Fall (24) defends against Duke forward Zion Williamson (1) during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

Central Florida’s BJ Taylor (1) drives down the baseline while defended by Duke’s Cam Reddish (2) during the first half of a first round men’s college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament in Columbia, S.C. Sunday, March 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

Central Florida forward Chad Brown (21) celebrates after a dunk against Duke during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament Sunday, March 24, 2019, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

COLUMBIA, S.C. — 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.

Crowd reacts to end of Duke-UCF #NCAATournament @SuperBookUSA⁩ #RJnow #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/CKmrOcMnLW

— Todd Dewey (@tdewey33) March 24, 2019

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 longtime assistant under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Barrett finished with 16 points.