CHARLOTTE, N.C. — 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Needing to hurry, the Huskies then inbounded the ball to Thomas, who unloaded a shot from the corner. Henson inexplicably touched the ball just before it would have hit the rim and the Washington bench erupted for a goaltending call — not that it would have mattered.
It turned out Thomas had his foot on the 3-point line.
(11) MARQUETTE 66, (3) SYRACUSE 62: At Cleveland, Darius Johnson-Odom's 3-pointer with 27 seconds left snapped a tie and gave Marquette a 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.
The Golden Eagles are in the round of 16 for the first time since Dwyane Wade led them to the Final Four in 2003.
(1) OHIO ST. 98, (8) GEORGE MASON 66: At Cleveland, David Lighty made all seven of his 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Jared Sullinger added 18 after informing one of George Mason's players "it's over" and top-seeded Ohio State made 16 3s to advance in the NCAA tournament with a jaw-dropping win Sunday.
With thousands of fans chanting "O-H-I-O" at every opportunity, the Buckeyes (34-2) took apart the Patriots (27-7), who created some March mayhem a few years ago and hoped to follow Butler's lead by taking out a No. 1 seed in this tourney.
Ohio State destroyed any upset plans and moved closer to its first national title since 1960. The Buckeyes will meet Kentucky (27-8) in the East regional semifinals Friday in Newark, N.J. Ohio State is 5-0 in NCAA tournament matchups with the Wildcats.