Duke survives again, 75-73
Duke has survived again in the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 1 overall seed held off Virginia Tech 75-73 in the East Region semifinals, earning a trip to the Elite Eight to face Michigan State. The Blue Devils had to survive a wild final possession for the Hokies, who missed two 3-pointers for the lead then had Ahmed Hill miss a short putaway on a perfectly executed inbounds lob to the lane to end it.
Duke had already survived UCF missing two attempts for the win in a one-point win in the second round last weekend. The Blue Devils also won games against Wake Forest and North Carolina this year by surviving final-play shots each time.
Zion Williamson scored a game-high 23 points, while fellow freshman Tre Jones scores a career-high 22 points with five 3-pointers to compensate for the absence of starter Cam Reddish due to a knee injury.
Kerry Blackshear had 18 points to lead the fourth-seeded Hokies.
Kentucky 62, Houston 58
Houston wouldn’t go away in the Midwest Region semifinal in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kentucky led by 13 points early in the second half.
Armoni Brooks’ 3-pointer cut the lead to 45-41, and Corey Davis Jr. missed on a chance to make it a one-possession game when he missed from distance two possessions later.
Kentucky led Houston 37-26 at halftime of their Midwest Region semifinal, with PJ Washington returning from injury to score 8 points and give the Wildcats a big advantage inside.
The Wildcats closed the half on an 8-2 spurt to build their lead.
