North Carolina edges Huskies

• EAST REGIONAL

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - North Carolina's Roy Williams woke up Sunday morning feeling ill.

The Hall of Fame coach then had to endure one stomach-turning play after another in a dramatic and confusing finish that left the Tar Heels in a familiar spot: the NCAA tournament's round of 16.

Tyler Zeller scored 23 points, Harrison Barnes added 22 and North Carolina survived a closing minute that included numerous questionable calls to beat Washington 86-83 in the East region. The Tar Heels are into the second weekend for a record 24th time.

"I told the kids to take care of the old man and they did a good job," Williams said. "I feel a heck of a lot better now."

Rallying from deficits of 11 points in the first half and five in the second, the second-seeded Tar Heels (28-7) went ahead for good on Barnes' 3-pointer with 4:06 left.

But they needed two late free throws from Dexter Strickland and two defensive stops in the final second to advance to play Marquette Friday in Newark, N.J.

"For our lack of experience," Barnes said, "we make up for that with heart."

Terrence Ross scored 19 points and Matthew Bryan-Amaning added 14 for the seventh-seeded Huskies (24-11), who couldn't overcome a subpar game from star guard Isaiah Thomas and a hostile crowd to pull the upset in a fast-paced game full of entertaining plays and mental miscues.

"All of our guys fought and did so many things right that could have enabled us to win the ballgame," coach Lorenzo Romar said, "but we didn't get it done."

Washington, which came in with as many NCAA tournament wins (18) as North Carolina has Final Four appearances, nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback in a virtual road game 2,800 miles from home.

Washington got within 84-83 on Ross' 3-pointer with 17.3 seconds left before North Carolina's Kendall Marshall - who set a school NCAA tournament record with 14 assists - missed the front end of a 1-and-1 at the foul line.

Washington's Venoy Overton then missed a runner in the lane, but the ball bounced off North Carolina and out of bounds with 7.4 seconds left. On the inbound play, 6-foot-10 John Henson knocked away Justin Holiday's pass under the basket and the ball landed in Strickland's hands, and he hit two free throws with 5.4 seconds left.

Moments later, Overton launched a premature halfcourt shot with about 3 seconds remaining that fell well short. Romar indicated that Overton was anticipating getting fouled, something Williams said the Tar Heels planned to do to prevent a tying 3-point attempt.

That wasn't the end of it, though. Not at all.

Instead of letting the errant shot go harmlessly out of bounds, Henson touched the ball on the way down to give the Huskies yet another chance.

"I told John I wished he just caught that ball," Williams said.

But how much time was left?

Replays with the official game clock superimposed on the screen showed there should have been 1.1 or 1.2 seconds to go, giving Washington more time for a final shot. Romar said after the game that his staff asked the referees to review how much time should have been left, but the officials stuck with half a second.

• WEST REGIONAL

Duke 73, Michigan 71: A dramatic ending put Duke on its way to a familar nook of the NCAA bracket and sent Coach K into even more exclusive company.

Nolan Smith scored 24 points and top-seeded Duke held off a late rally to beat Michigan 73-71 on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., and give Mike Krzyzewski his 900th career victory.

Kyle Singler added 13 points for the Blue Devils (32-4), who shot 51 percent, never trailed in the second half and advanced to the round of 16 for the 12th time in 14 years.

Darius Morris' runner in the lane with 2 seconds left bounced off the back iron and Smith grabbed the rebound at the buzzer, sealing Duke's trip to Anaheim, Calif., for the West regional semifinals Thursday night, where it will meet Arizona.

Arizona 70, Texas 69: At Tulsa, Okla., Arizona didn't forget how to advance in its one-year absence from the NCAA tournament.

Derrick Williams' three-point play with 9.6 seconds remaining lifted the Wildcats to a stunning win over Texas in the third round of the NCAA tournament Sunday night.

The Wildcats (29-7) led by as many as 13 points in the first half and were up for most of the game before J'Covan Brown's jumper put the Longhorns ahead 69-67. Williams misfired on a game-tying attempt with 14.5 seconds remaining, but Texas (28-8) was called for a five-second violation on the inbound pass to give Arizona one more chance.

Replays appeared to show the call came before the count reached five.

Arizona will face Duke on Thursday in Anaheim.

• SOUTHWEST REGIONAL

Florida State 71, Notre Dame 57: At Chicago, Bernard James scored 14 points, Michael Snaer added 13 and Florida State showed there's more to its game than defense with a 71-57 upset of second-seeded Notre Dame that put the Seminoles in the regional semifinals for the first time since 1993.

Florida State (23-10) now faces upstart Virginia Commonwealth in the Southwest regional semifinals Friday in San Antonio.

Kansas 73, Illinois 59: At Tulsa, Okla., in a bracket filled with upsets, top-seeded Kansas is jumping for joy.

Twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris combined for 41 points and 24 rebounds, powering Kansas past Illinois 73-59 on Sunday night to ensure the Jayhawks wouldn't make an opening-weekend exit from the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

Kansas plays Richmond on Friday.

Virginia Commonwealth 94, Purdue 76: At Chicago, the question is no longer whether Virginia Commonwealth belongs. Instead, it's: Who can stop the Rams?

Bradford Burgess scored 23 points and 11th-seeded VCU made it three victories in five days Sunday night, routing third-seeded Purdue 94-76 to earn a trip to the Southwest regional semifinals.

Deep, fast and talented, VCU (26-11) will now play Florida State on Friday in San Antonio.

• EAST REGIONAL

Ohio State 98, George Mason 66: Once OhioState's Jared Sullinger declared it was over, it was over.

David Lighty made all seven of his 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Sullinger added 18 after informing one of George Mason's players "it's over" and top-seeded OhioState made 16 3s to advance in the NCAA tournament with a jaw-dropping 98-66 win in Cleveland.

The Buckeyes will meet Kentucky (27-8) in the East regional semifinals Friday in Newark, N.J. OhioState is 5-0 in NCAA tournament matchups with the Wildcats.

Marquette 66, Syracuse 62: At Cleveland, Darius Johnson-Odom started the party on the court. Buzz Williams took it into the stands.

Johnson-Odom's 3-pointer with 27 seconds left snapped a tie and gave Marquette a 66-62 win over Syracuse on Sunday night that put the Golden Eagles into the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the first time in eight years.

The 11th-seeded Golden Eagles (22-14) had the winning basket set up by one of Syracuse's 18 turnovers. Dion Waiters' pass went long and Scoop Jardine's jump to grab it resulted in an over-and-back.

Johnson-Odom delivered for a 62-59 lead and Marquette is moving on at the expense of its Big East rival. Marquette will play No. 2 seed North Carolina (28-7) in the East regional semifinals Friday in Newark, N.J.