That was a close call for Duke.
CLOSE SportsPulse: The Zion vs. Tacko duel lived up to the hype in the most exciting game of the tournament. USA TODAY's Scott Gleeson breaks down how Duke was able to avoid a historic upset. USA TODAY
Duke escaped the second round, 77-76, barely holding on to beat No. 9 seed Central Florida when B.J. Taylor’s runner caromed too strong off the glass and a follow-tip by Aubrey Dawkins caught three different parts of the rim before gravity pulled it off to the side. “I thought it was going to go,” said UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, Aubrey’s father and one of Mike Krzyzewski’s first great players at Duke in the mid-1980s.
But the thing is, it’s now clear how easy Duke’s offense is to discombobulate because for all the great recruiting of McDonald’s All-Americans that Krzyzewski has done recently, this year he forgot to get a couple more who can shoot. Then, down 76-73 with less than a minute left, we got the confrontation America had been waiting for: Williamson challenging Fall at the rim, everything on the line for Duke. As Williamson had figured out by then, after Fall had blocked his shot three times earlier and fouled him a couple more, there’s no easy way to score on 7-foot-6.
Though Williamson missed the free throw that would have tied the game, Barrett was able to sneak in for a putback that finally gave Duke the lead with 11 seconds left — another one of those plays where you can throw all the strategy out the window and it’s simply Best Man Wins.
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