WASHINGTON -- The #4-seed Virginia Tech Hokies fell to the #1-seed Duke Blue Devils 75-73 Friday night in Washington D.C.
Tech built a four point halftime lead behind 13 first half points from Ahmed Hill while the Hokie defense limited R.J. Barrett to just two points.
But in the second half, the Devils trio of Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Tre Jones took over, eventually scoring 63 of Duke's 75 points.
Still, the game came down to two final possessions by the Hokies with :06 to play. The first was a three pointer by Ty Outlaw (5 points), who hit the game winning shot when the Hokies beat Duke in Blacksburg in the regular season.
But Outlaw's shot came up short. Tech had a second chance with just over :01 to play on an in-bounds lob pass to Hill that hit the side of the rim and fell away.
"I saw he (Wiliamson) was trailing" Hill said. "(Justin Robinson) threw a great pass and I just came up short."
"I'm not even going to lie to you, when he caught it, I said 'Oh we're about to go into overtime'" added Williamson. "I don't know what happened, it just kind of went our way."
"The pass was perfect," explained Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams. "He just missed it."
With the win, Duke advances to the Elite Eight to face Michigan State on Sunday.
"Congratulations to Buzz and his team. They're terrific," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "We feel really good about winning this game because we had to play outstanding basketball in order to win."
After celebrating a successful season, Virginia Tech fans must now wait to see whether head coach Buzz Williams will stay in Blacksburg or pursue other coaching options.
