Duke holds off Texas to reach Sweet 16

The Associated Press

GREENSBORO, N.C. " Gerald Henderson finally will find out what the second weekend of the NCAA tournament is like.

Henderson scored 24 points and hit three free throws in the final minute to help Duke beat Texas 74-69 on Saturday night in the second round of the East Regional.

Kyle Singler added 17 points and Jon Scheyer added 13 for the second-seeded Blue Devils (30-6). They reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2006 and will face third-seeded Villanova (28-7) on Thursday night in Boston.

A.J. Abrams scored 17 points on 5-for-13 shooting for the No. 7 seed Longhorns (23-12), who rallied from a late 10-point deficit to tie it twice in the final 2 minutes " the last time coming when Gary Johnson's free throw with 1:07 remaining made it 69-all.

Nolan Smith hit two free throws with 47 seconds left to put Duke up 71-69, and the Longhorns missed two chances in the final 40 seconds to tie it.

Damion James' 3-pointer over Henderson circled the rim and popped out.

After Henderson added a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, Abrams missed a runner and James couldn't convert the follow-up.

As the rebound squirted toward the Texas bench, Scheyer made a heady play to chase it down and hurl it downcourt to Elliot Williams. When the freshman missed two free throws with 11.5 seconds left, the rebound bounced off a Longhorn's hands to Henderson, who pumped his fist as he hit the floor, then hit two foul shots with 7.2 seconds remaining to seal it.

Smith finished with 11 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 43 percent. They overcame the Longhorns' 50 percent shooting performance by forcing 15 turnovers and improved to 12-0 in NCAA tournament games at the Greensboro Coliseum " where their two most recent national title runs have started.

GONZAGA 83,

W. KENTUCKY 81

PORTLAND, Ore. " Freshman Demetri Goodson streaked the length of the court and made a short, running bank shot with 0.9 seconds left, lifting fourth-seeded Gonzaga over Western Kentucky.

Gonzaga (28-5) advanced to the South Region semifinals to play North Carolina on Friday in Memphis, Tenn.

Steffphon Pettigrew hit a tip-in for the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers (25-9) that tied it at 81 with 7.2 seconds left. But Goodson took the inbounds pass and went straight to the basket with little resistance, hitting from close on the left side.

Western Kentucky, which made a surprise run to the regional semifinals last year, was led by Orlando Mendez-Valdez with 25 points.

Villanova 89, UCLA 69

PHILADELPHIA (AP) " Dante Cunningham scored 18 points Saturday, helping Villanova reach the round of 16 for the fourth time in five years with an 89-69 victory over UCLA that ended the Bruins' bid for a fourth straight Final Four appearance.

Corey Fisher and Reggie Redding each had 13 points for the third-seeded Wildcats (28-7), who advanced to the round of 16 in the East Region.

Josh Shipp led UCLA with 18 points and Darren Collison had 15. It's the earliest exit for the sixth-seeded Bruins (26-9) since a first-round loss in the 2005 NCAA tournament.

Backed by a raucous, hometown crowd at their off-campus home, Villanova jumped on UCLA early and hardly let up. A 19-2 run that started five minutes in put the Wildcats ahead 28-11 before the midpoint of the first half, and the Bruins never seriously threatened.

Memphis 89, Maryland 70

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) " Tyreke Evans scored 19 points and the Tigers shot a sizzling 70 percent in the first half, awakening from their first-round slumber to belt the Terps.

Roburt Sallie, the surprise hero of Thursday's hard-fought victory over No. 15 seed Cal State Northridge, came off the bench and kept up his 3-point onslaught by hitting his first three, making him 13-for-19 for the tourney. He finished with 13 points.

The second-seeded Tigers (33-3) knocked the Terps (21-14) on the ropes with a 9-0 run in the opening minutes and led by as many as 23 while mounting a 53-33 halftime lead. Shawn Taggart had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Greivis Vasquez had 18 points to lead Maryland.

Connecticut 92, Texas A&M 66

PHILADELPHIA (AP) " A.J. Price scored 27 points, Jeff Adrien had 23 and UConn dominated Texas A&M from the opening tip with Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun back on the bench.

After getting treatment for dehydration and missing Connecticut's first-round game, Calhoun came back and never had to worry. The Huskies scored the first 10 points and kept pulling away.

Stanley Robinson had 12 points for the top-seeded Huskies (29-4), who will play Purdue in the West Region semifinals in Glendale, Ariz.

Bryan Davis and Donald Sloan led overmatched Texas A&M with 12 points. The No. 9 seed Aggies (24-10) were knocked out by the top seed in the second round for the second straight year.

Purdue 76, Washington 74

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) " JaJuan Johnson scored 22 points and had two huge blocks in the final minute as fifth-seeded Purdue held off a frantic charge from Washington.

The Boilermakers (27-9) advanced to their first regional semifinals since 2000. The Big Ten tournament champions led the entire game, but nearly blew a 14-point lead to the desperate, determined Huskies (26-9).

E'Twaun Moore scored 14 points and made the clinching free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining for Purdue.

Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points, Quincy Pondexter had 20 with 10 rebounds and Jon Brockman added 20 points with 18 rebounds " the 60th and final double-double of his career " for Washington, the regular-season champion of the Pac-10.

North Carolina 84, LSU 70

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) " Ty Lawson got back just in time to help top-seeded North Carolina win before a friendly crowd.

The Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year had missed the past three games after he jammed his right toe in practice two days before the regular-season finale against Duke. Against LSU, Lawson scored 23 points and made a three-point play that sparked a decisive second-half run.

Wayne Ellington scored 23 points to lead the Tar Heels (30-4).

Marcus Thornton scored 25 points to lead the eighth-seeded Tigers (27-8).

With the Tar Heels ahead 64-63, Lawson split two defenders after a turnover and drew a foul while lobbing a shot to the rim. The ball hung there for a moment before dropping through, a three-point play that sent North Carolina to a 74-63 lead.

Oklahoma 73, Michigan 63

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) " Bulling through double teams and soaring in for vicious dunks, Blake Griffin finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds to power Oklahoma past Michigan.

Still sore from being dumped by Morgan State's Ameer Ali in the first round, Griffin dominated the undersized Wolverines to help the second-seeded Sooners (29-5) advance to next week's South Regional semifinals against the Syracuse-Arizona State winner.

The 10th-seeded Wolverines (21-14) pulled off a mild upset in the opening round by withstanding Clemson's relentless pressure, but couldn't handle Griffin's tenacity to make it two in a row.