Canada’s Barrett helps lead Duke over UCF, into Sweet 16 at NCAA tournament

Canada’s RJ Barrett helped Duke advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 16-point performance on Sunday.

Teammate Zion Williamson finished with 32 points and top-seeded Duke survived with a 77-76 victory over UCF when two last-ditch shots by the Knights rolled off the rim.

Ninth-seeded UCF had a final chance, but B.J. Taylor missed a short jumper and Aubrey Dawkins failed on a tip attempt with less than two 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.

Barrett, of Mississauga, Ont., also had eight rebounds in 40 minutes of action.

Dawkins led UCF with 32 points.

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In other men’s tournament play, Kyle Alexander of Milton, Ont., had eight points and nine rebounds in Tennessee’s 83-77 overtime win over Iowa. Tennessee reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in three years.

No. 4 Virginia Tech moved on with a 67-58 win over No. 12 Liberty, with Toronto’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker chipping in with six points, six assists and six rebounds.

Hailey Brown had two points and two rebounds in Michigan’s 71-50 first-round loss to Louisville in the women’s tournament.

Adedola Adeyeye of Brampton, Ont., had five rebounds while Hamilton’s Hanna Hall contributed one assist as No. 10 Buffalo fell 84-72 to No. 2 Connecticut.

The Canadian Press