An action-filled Elite Eight concluded with Michigan State taking down the No. 1 overall seed Duke 68-67 on Sunday — and in dramatic fashion. A seesaw battle with several lead changes swung when Kenny Goins hit a 3 with 39 seconds left, giving the Spartans a lead they did not relent. As expected, Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and Duke’s Zion Williamson had their footprints all of the game, with both recording double-doubles. MORE: Watch college basketball live with fuboTV (7-day trial) Winston had 20 points and 10 assists, while Williamson had 24 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and three steals in a losing effort. RJ Barrett had 21 points, but missed a key free throw down the stretch that would have tied the game. The Spartans will head to their 10th Final Four, and first since 2015. They will play West Region 3-seed Texas Tech on Saturday. Sporting News provided updates and highlights from Duke vs. Michigan State, which was played in Washington D.C. SN's MARCH MADNESS HQ Live NCAA bracket | Live scoreboard | Full TV schedule​ Duke vs. Michigan State: Results, updates 7:08 p.m.: Winston catches the inbounds and evades defenders and Michigan State is heading to the Final Four! 7:07 p.m.: Barrett makes the second and Duke still has two fouls to give. 7:07 p.m.: He misses the first. 7:06 p.m.: RJ Barrett is fouled with five seconds left. He will shoot two with Duke trailing by two. 7:02 p.m.: Kenny Goins hits a 3 and the Spartans are ahead! 7:00 p.m.: Now it's Michigan State with a chance to capitalize. Tillman's layup cuts it to one and the Spartans have the ball again after a defensive stop. 6:58 p.m.: Seven straight points by the Blue Devils after Tillman's and-one. Duke leads 66-63 with a minute and a half to play. 6:55 p.m.: Key defensive stop by Duke and Williamson finds Barrett for a go-ahead 3 on the other end. It's a 64-63 Blue Devils with 2:26 left. 6:50 p.m.: Duke has the ball down two as we have hit the under four-minute timeout. Heading towards another great Elite Eight finish. 6:49 p.m.: Big swing as Winston lays it in to give MSU the lead and then Tillman completes a three-point play. Spartans by four. SEND IT IN XAVIER TILLMAN pic.twitter.com/OeCGueD8Uv — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 31, 2019 6:41 p.m.: Williamson is just too strong. He lays it up to tie the game. Zion has 22 points and 13 rebounds so far. He can also block some shots. 6:36 p.m.: Javin DeLaurier scores four straight points but a Kenny Goins 3 and an acrobatic layup by Matt McQuaid shifts the score to 58-56. These teams just keep going back and forth. All Matt McQuaid could do was give a Jordan shrug. pic.twitter.com/CndMEimyg9 — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 31, 2019 6:33 p.m.: Five unanswered from Winston and Tillman and the Spartans have made it 53-52. 6:27 p.m.: Consecutive 3s by Reddish and Williamson have the Blue Devils ahead by four points. 6:25 p.m.: The seesaw battle continues with more lead changes. Big 3 by Winston to put the Spartans on top. 6:18 p.m.: The teams are going at it in the paint right. Duke briefly re-gains the lead but Michigan State gets it right back. 6:15 p.m.: Williamson with a dominant effort inside the paint but misses the free throw. It's 37-34 Michigan State. 6:12 p.m.: Aaron Henry opens up the second half with a dunk. Pretty fun way for @MSU_Basketball to start the half. pic.twitter.com/Ohlx6Xc6wV — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 31, 2019 5:51 p.m.: The Spartans end the first half on a 13-0 run and lead 34-30 at the break. Best way to respond to a 12-0 run? A 13-0 run of your own! 💪#MarchMadness | @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/jkQbCgYjRV — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 31, 2019 5:49 p.m.: Winston with a steal and dish to Xavier Tillman and the Spartans are ahead. 5:47 p.m.: Now a 9-0 run for Michigan State and this game is tied back up. 5:42 p.m.: Cassius WInston gets back-to-back buckets to narrow the deficit down to five points. Cassius Winston hits the tough bucket to get the Spartans back on track! 💪#MarchMadness | #Elite8 pic.twitter.com/0sF0Uh8zCM — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 31, 2019 5:40 p.m.: Williamson goes to the bench with two fouls. 5:36 p.m.: Another 3! Barrett hits a triple, forcing a Spartans timeout. It is 30-21 Duke. 5:35 p.m.: The Blue Devils just keeping scoring. Williamson adds a layup and Reddish hits a 3 and they lead by six points. 5:34 p.m.: Duke scores four points out of the break and has its first lead of the game. 5:29 p.m.: Spartans still haven't trailed and lead by three at the third media timeout. McQuaid and RJ Barrett lead all scorers with seven points. 5:27 p.m.: Michigan State's offense is falling a little bit out of sync and Duke has responded by getting it within one. 5:20 p.m.: Both teams doing well on the offensive glass. Michigan State has six while Duke has five. Spartans lead 16-11 with 11 minutes to play in the first half. 5:16 p.m.: Matt McQuaid doing his best Zion impersonation. 5:11 p.m.: Slow start for both teams offensively. Michigan State leads 8-4 at the first media timeout. 5:10 p.m.: Zion slam! 5:07 p.m.: Reddish has checked in for Duke. 5:05 p.m.: Duke turns it over and Kenny Goins slams it down to start the game. Michigan State gets this party started with a CRAM pic.twitter.com/uIM1ufskYT — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 31, 2019 5:05 p.m.: Alex O'Connell is starting for Duke over Cam Reddish, who is reportedly available to play.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — The ball almost seemed to hang in the air Sunday evening at Capital One Arena, as Kenny Goins held a pose and watched it fall. The Michigan State bench was frozen. The Spartans fans behind them were silent. Then, when Goins’ go-ahead three found the net: Pandemonium. The sure-handed senior put Michigan State ahead in the final minute, and a missed free throw by R.J. Barrett with 5.2 seconds left on the clock helped seal the deal. And so, in arguably the most highly-anticipated matchup of the Elite Eight — a meeting of powerhouse programs with high-profile coaches and a plethora of stars — Michigan State was able to hold on, defeating the Blue Devils, 68-67, in an absolute thriller. "We ran (the play) earlier. Didn't work," Goins said of his shot. "Went back to it. Coach was like, 'It's going to be open.' "As soon as it left my hand I knew it was good. I was kind of planning my celebration." The Spartans (32-6) will return to the Final Four for the first time since 2015 — when they, coincidentally, lost to Duke in the national semifinal. They’ll face Texas Tech, the winner in the West Region, on Saturday. PLAY OF HIS LIFE:Tom Izzo drew up it up, and Michigan State stunned Duke IMMEDIATE STAR:With Duke loss, Zion Williamson enters NBA universe THRILLERS:After four classics, was this the best Elite Eight set of games? Winston, who sprinted away from the crowd on the final possession to end the game, led the way with 20 points and 10 assists for Michigan State, while Xavier Tillman added 19 points and nine boards. Zion Williamson had 24 points and 14 rebounds for Duke. The first three Elite Eight games were spectacular — including a pair of overtime games — but this one always seemed destined to be the best of the bunch. This, after all, was Duke and Michigan State, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo — a pair of legendary coaches and legendary programs with a combined 19 Final Four appearances and seven national titles between them. The victory was a bit of redemption for Izzo, who entered the game just 1-11 against Krzyzewski. The Duke coach was seeking his record 13th Final Four. He is currently tied for first with John Wooden. “To be the best, you got to beat the best and there’s no question they are the best,” Izzo said. "I've had some great Final Fours, but this one ranks right up there with maybe the best, the way we had to do it all season." From the beginning, the matchup lived up to the hype. There was the requisite Williamson slams, and a wave of Winston floaters. Cam Reddish, who had been a gametime decision with a knee injury, checked into the game after two minutes to a massive ovation from the Duke-heavy crowd. The energy in Capital One Arena was everything that was expected. As the half progressed, momentum swung between the teams in long stretches, each of them several minutes long. First, the Blue Devils opened up a nine-point lead with a 12-0 run. Then Winston ended it with a pair of baskets, and the Spartans went on a 13-0 run over their own to close out the half ahead 34-30. All the while, the specter of foul trouble hung over Williamson, who was forced to briefly ride the bench after picking up his second foul with 4:52 left in the half. He didn't seem to mind in the second half, though — continuing to play as aggressively as ever, both on offense and on the boards. Williamson bodied Michigan State big man Xavier Tillman into a pair of quick fouls, forcing him out of the game, then took advantage of substitute Nick Ward. The projected No. 1 overall pick in this summer's NBA draft more than lived up to the hype, in this game and throughout the weekend. But Michigan State had its own answers. Matt McQuaid, who had a poster in the first half, hit a spinning how-did-I-do-that layup midway through the second. Tillman took the ball on a breakaway and threw down a one-handed slam, Williamson-style. With a little more than three minutes remaining, it was a two-point game — setting up the epic finale to an epic evening. “When it came to the last seconds, we trusted everybody," Winston said. The loss by Duke is the expected end in college basketball for Williamson, Barrett, Reddish and point guard Tre Jones. All four freshmen are expected to be taken in the first round of the NBA draft with Williamson anticipated as the No. 1 overall pick. They'll leave with an ACC tournament title, but without their desired national championship or a Final Four to celebrate. "Only one team can finish on top," Williamson said. "The odds of (a national championship) are slim. "And just look around the locker room and see your teammates, your brothers. And you just think this group probably will never play together." Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — Cassius Winston held the ball and ran with it as time expired, looking more like an elusive Michigan State running back than a point guard as he evaded all last-second attempts to foul him. The top overall seed, the one with the most dominant freshman in years, was about to fall. Winston had just played every second of the game. With 20 points and 10 assists, the junior was the second-seeded Spartans’ best player against top-seeded Duke in Sunday’s regional final. But without heroics from all its players, Michigan State would have been merely forgettable roadkill on Duke’s inexorable path. There was Xavier Tillman. With just over a minute left, he scored 5 points on two shots and a free throw, cutting the deficit to 1 point.<doc-sep>
Michigan State takes down Duke, 68-67 to advance to Final Four Michigan State takes down Duke, 68-67 to advance to Final Four The Final Four field is set. In a battle featuring two Hall of Fame coaches to decide the final bid, it was Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans coming out on top, taking a 68-67 win over Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils in Washington, D.C. Michigan State, the Big Ten champs, are going to the Final Four for the 10th time in school history and the eighth time under Izzo. The Spartans will join Texas Tech, Virginia and Auburn in Minneapolis, Minnesota. "To be the best you've got to beat the best." Tom Izzo, Cassius Winston & @MSU_Basketball are ready for the #FinalFour#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/AAw2cxRuYI — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 31, 2019 Down to the wire For Duke, it was the third straight game the Blue Devils played in that was decided by single digits. Duke escaped with wins against UCF and Virginia Tech, as those teams' final shot attempts fell short of falling through the hoop. This time, Duke wasn't so lucky. The Blue Devils trailed by two points with less than 10 seconds left. RJ Barrett had the ball and drove to the rim, but was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. He missed the first free throw, but sank the second, cutting the deficit to a single point. After a Duke foul, Cassius Winston caught the second inbounds pass and eluded Duke defenders, sprinting around the court as the final seconds ticked away. The stars shined For both Michigan State and Duke, the top players performed at their best on the biggest stage. Winston led the Spartans with 20 points, 10 assists and four steals. Zion Williamson, Duke's freshman phenom, tallied 24 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Their co-stars were solid too. For Duke, Barrett poured in 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. Alongside Winston for Michigan State, Xavier Tillman notched 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Xavier Tillman is very quietly one of the best matchups for Zion in college basketball — Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) March 31, 2019 With 2:32 to play in the second half, Williamson assisted Barrett on a three-pointer that gave the Blue Devils a one-point lead. On Duke's next possession, Williamson bulldozed his way to the rim for a lay-up. Good things happen when Zion has the ball. Created the shot, and Barrett hits a clutch one. — Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 31, 2019 But with 39 seconds to play, it was Tillman making a big play for the Spartans. He dished an assist to Kenny Goins, who swished a three-pointer from the top of the key to give Michigan State a two-point advantage. Spartans led by defense Michigan State ran crisp plays and sank some big buckets on offense, but defensively, the Spartans were at their best. The Spartans held the Blue Devils to 33.3 percent shooting from three-point range and forced them into 17 turnovers. Michigan State scored 24 points off those turnovers, too. Michigan State was also stout in transition, holding Duke to zero fast break points. Duke’s combination of dreadful entry passes and Michigan State getting away with a lot of physicality has made for an awfully frustrating day in the post for Zion (despite his 22 points). — Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 31, 2019 Duke has zero fast break points? Wow — Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 31, 2019 The Spartans entered this game with one of the top defenses in college basketball, holding opponents to a 37.8 shooting percentage from the floor, a mark that's third best in the country. Michigan State's next opponent is Texas Tech, the third seed from the West Region. The Spartans hope that Winston, Tillman and the defense can carry them to two more wins.