Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Duke survives UCF on Barrett putback in thrilling finish

RJ Barrett scored off a rebound with 12 seconds remaining, and Duke made a final defensive stand to pull out a 77-76 victory against Central Florida in the NCAA Tournament's second round Sunday in Columbia, S.C. Central Florida's BJ Taylor missed a runner in the final seconds, and a tip-in attempt by Aubrey Dawkins barely rolled off, allowing top-seeded Duke to advance in the East Region. Duke (31-5) will meet Virginia Tech on Friday night in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C., after the Hokies downed Liberty later Sunday. NCAA roundup: No. 1 Duke barely holds off UCF

RJ Barrett scored off a rebound with 12 seconds remaining, and Duke made a final defensive stand to pull out a 77-76 victory against Central Florida in the NCAA Tournament's East Region second round Sunday in Columbia, S.C. Central Florida's BJ Taylor missed a runner in the final seconds, and a tip-in attempt by Aubrey Dawkins barely rolled off, allowing top-seeded Duke to advance. Duke (31-5) will meet Virginia Tech on Friday night in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C. Patriots TE Gronkowski announces retirement

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement Sunday on Instagram, ending one of the league's most dominant and colorful careers after nine seasons. "It all started at 20 years old on stage at the NFL draft when my dream came true, and now here I am about to turn 30 in a few months with a decision I feel is the biggest of my life so far. I will be retiring from the game of football today," he wrote. Halep recovers to beat Hercog, Venus wins in Miami

Romanian second seed Simona Halep fought back from a set down to defeat Slovenian Polona Hercog in a challenging third round match at the Miami Open on Sunday. Hercog, ranked 93rd in the world, pushed Halep all the way in the second set but the Romanian dominated the tiebreak to turn the match around and eventually triumphed 5-7 7-6(1) 6-2. Curry returns to lead Warriors past Pistons

Stephen Curry returned from a one-game absence to hit five 3-pointers and total a game-high 26 points Sunday night as the Golden State Warriors shook off the embarrassment of a 35-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks one day earlier to turn back the Detroit Pistons 121-114 in Oakland, Calif. The Golden State win, coupled with Denver's loss at Indiana earlier in the day, allowed the Warriors (50-23) to move a half-game ahead of the Nuggets (49-23) in the race for the best record in the Western Conference. Pritchard, Oregon overcome UC Irvine to reach Sweet 16

Payton Pritchard had 18 points, Kenny Wooten blocked seven shots and 12th-seeded Oregon roared back after a big UC Irvine run en route to a 73-54 victory in a South Region second-round game in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday. Oregon (25-12) will play top-seeded Virginia on Thursday in the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Ky. Holder Isner advances in Miami and will face Britain's Edmund next

Defending champion John Isner unleashed 16 aces in claiming a 7-5 7-6(6) victory over determined Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the third round of the Miami Open on Sunday. Ramos-Vinolas broke Isner to start the match but the American saved the next four break points he faced to advance. Top-seeded Virginia tops Oklahoma, back in Sweet 16

Top-seeded Virginia advanced to its third Sweet 16 in six seasons Sunday night with a 63-51 win over No. 9 seed Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament's South Region at Columbia, S.C. Virginia (31-3) will face No. 12 seed Oregon in Thursday night's regional semifinal in Louisville, Ky., after the Ducks pulled away from No. 13 seed UC Irvine on Sunday night. Houston bounces Ohio State, to face Kentucky next

Guard Corey Davis Jr. led a balanced attack with 21 points, and backcourt mate Galen Robinson Jr. had 13 points, five assists and a career-high six steals to lift No. 3 Houston to the Sweet 16 with a 74-59 victory over No. 11 Ohio State on Sunday night in the second round of the Midwest Regional in Tulsa, Okla. Houston (33-3) will play No. 2 seed Kentucky (29-6) in the round of 16 in Kansas City, Missouri. Kentucky advanced with a 62-56 victory over No. 7 Wofford in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday. Lakers, James overrule Kings, end losing streak

LeBron James had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 111-106 win against the visiting Sacramento Kings on Sunday night. Kyle Kuzma also scored 29 points and JaVale McGee overcame early foul trouble to finish with 17 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks for the Lakers, who ended a five-game losing streak.