RALEIGH, N.C. - Michael Dixon Jr. scored 19 points and hit four free throws in the final 10 seconds to help Memphis hold off George Washington 71-66 on Friday night in the second round of the East Regional.
Joe Jackson added 15 points for the eighth-seeded Tigers (24-9). They entered the tournament having lost three of five to fall out of the national rankings, and shot 49 percent in this one but struggled to put the ninth-seeded Colonials away until the final seconds.
Isaiah Armwood scored a season-high 21 points after playing the final 12 minutes with four fouls for ninth-seeded GW (24-9), which was just 2 of 12 from three-point range yet never fell behind by more than 10 points.
Leading scorer Maurice Creek - who averages 14 points - finished with nine on 2-of-13 shooting for GW, but he airballed a three-pointer in the final seconds that would have tied it.
Patricio Garino added 10 points for the Colonials, who were making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007 and stuck around all game before making a final late push.
They had the ball down 67-64 after Jackson threw the ball away with 1:16 left.
But Creek’s jumper in the lane was short and so was Nemanja Mikic’s three-point attempt from the right wing with less than a minute remaining.
Crawford missed a three for Memphis with about 30 seconds left and the rebound went out of bounds off Jackson with 26.6 seconds left.
Joe McDonald beat Crawford off the dribble for a layup to make it 67-66 with 13.6 seconds left, and the Colonials fouled Dixon with 9.6 seconds left.
Dixon - the American Athletic Conference’s sixth man of the year - hit both free throws and the Colonials called a timeout to set up their final possession.
McDonald dribbled a few seconds off the clock before passing to Creek, whose three-pointer with about 3seconds left failed to draw iron.
Dixon added two more free throws with 0.4 of a second remaining for Memphis, which could never push its lead past 10. Its last big lead came on Dixon’s jumper from the corner with 9½ minutes left.
Creek hit a three-pointer - GW’s second, and last, of the game - before GW’s 1-3-1 zone forced a turnover and Garino made a layup to make it a 64-62 game with 2½ minutes left.
Out of a timeout, Memphis worked the ball to Dixon - who buried an open three-pointer from the right wing and kept his shooting hand aloft for an extra moment.
That seemed like the dagger - but the Colonials kept scrapping.
NORTH CAROLINA 79, PROVIDENCE 77
James Michael McAdoo sank two free throws in the final 3.5 seconds, and No. 6 seed North Carolina rallied to beat 11th-seeded Providence.
Providence’s Bryce Cotton scored a career-high 36 points and made one dazzling shot after another down the stretch. But he also fumbled a long rebound in the final moments, robbing the Friars of a chance for a last-second miracle.
Had North Carolina (24-9) lost, it would’ve been the first time since 1979 the Tar Heels and rival Duke lost on the same day of the tournament.
Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 19 points.
VIRGINIA 70, COASTAL CAROLINA 59
Anthony Gill scored 17 points to help No. 1 seed Virginia pull away late and beat Coastal Carolina, avoiding a historic upset in the NCAA tournament.
The Cavaliers, the top seed in the East Region, trailed by 10 in the first half and five at halftime to the 16th-seeded Chanticleers before pushing ahead for good with about 9 minutes left.
Evan Nolte came off the bench and hit two three-pointers to help Virginia finally push away from the Big South champion Chanticleers (21-13), who were in the tournament for the first time in 21 years.
The game was tied at 47 before Nolte’s threes powered a 23-7 spurt that finally put the game away.
IOWA STATE 93, N.C. CENTRAL 75
Georges Niang scored 24 points to lead third-seeded Iowa State as the Cyclones pulled away from No. 14 North Carolina Central in the second half.
Iowa State (27-7) had five players score in double figures. Niang’s two three-pointers early in the second half keyed Iowa State’s run that put the game away.
Jeremy Ingram scored 28 for North Carolina Central (28-6), which came in on a 20-game winning streak and won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Sports, Pages 22 on 03/22/2014