2020-21 DUKE BASKETBALL CLIPS FILE » 2020-21 DUKE BASKETBALL | CLIPS FILE If Duke is to make a run to NCAA tourney, Mark Williams just showed how to do it By Luke DeCock, Raleigh News & Observer (March 10, 2021) GREENSBORO - At this point, after a season of false dawns, far be it from anyone to claim, presume, surmise or otherwise deduce that Duke has turned some kind of a corner. One can only fall into that trap so many times. But, just for sake of argument, if Duke were going to pull off the improbable five-in- five at the ACC tournament, or at the least win enough to actually make a legitimate case for the NCAA tournament, the way Duke has played so far in Greensboro is how Duke would have to play to make it happen. “So far” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, with Florida State looming in Thursday’s quarterfinals, but Tuesday night’s win over Boston College and Wednesday’s 70-56 win over Louisville had a lot in common, starting with the continuing emergence of freshman big man Mark Williams as an unstoppable force and on down the line. With Matthew Hurt making some unlikely shots from uncertain positions and the freshman backcourt of DJ Steward and Jeremy Roach showing considerable defensive improvement, the things Duke needed to fall into place are falling into place. There was a lot of back and forth in Wednesday’s first half — a 12-0 Duke run followed by an 16-0 Louisville run followed by a 12-0 Duke run that spilled into the second half — but the Blue Devils took firm control after that. Williams was a huge part of that, dominating the paint and breaking Ralph Sampson’s ACC tournament record for rebounds by a freshman with 19 to go with 23 points. “He only had one rebound (Tuesday), so he’s averaging 10 a game,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Keep his ego in check.” Williams didn’t play in the first game at Louisville and had eight points and six rebounds in the home overtime loss to the Cardinals two weeks ago. In a sense, Williams’ progression mirrors Duke’s. “Today I got to show a little bit of what I could do,” Williams said. In some ways, so did the Blue Devils. Their defense, at times, was smothering, denying Louisville any penetration and blocking the Cardinals to the perimeter. Roach in particular looks more comfortable on both sides of the ball. And if Williams has made leaps and bounds over the past four weeks, so has Duke in the four days since they were blown off the court at North Carolina. That wasn’t the first time this season Duke was written off. This isn’t the first time Duke has turned around and raised hopes again. If that was a team out of mental gas after back-to-back overtime losses, this is a team that seems to be tapping new reserves of confidence. Is it enough to shore up a shaky NCAA tournament resume? Is it enough to put together a historic run in Greensboro, four years after Duke became the first team to win four games in four days in Brooklyn? Only time will tell. Either or both seemed unlikely a few days ago, and now both suddenly seem somewhere within the realm of possibility. In the absence of any great pronouncements about whether Duke is back or not, that will have to suffice. 2 » 2020-21 DUKE BASKETBALL | CLIPS FILE Mark Williams is quiet, but his game is plenty loud in win over Louisville By Brendan Marks, The Athletic (March 10, 2021) GREENSBORO, N.C. — If he wanted, Mark Williams could be one hell of a trash talker. They were, for a multitude of reasons. One, it allowed Duke to catch its breath. Between the behemoth blocks, the demonstrative dunks, the glass-clearing Now two games into a quest to win five straight — which has never been done in rebounds, there’s plenty of low-hanging fruit for him to get hyped about. Like, a lot. ACC tournament history — every extra breath matters. So saving a bit of energy, not that Williams could really afford to, should pay dividends on Thursday against But Williams, the biggest guy on Duke’s roster, also has the smallest penchant for Florida State, in a quarterfinal game that is vital to the Blue Devils’ resurgent NCAA being loud. Rather than stare down his “subjects” — in other words, those unlucky Tournament hopes. Secondly, those defensive boards allowed Duke to get into its enough to get in the 7-footer’s way — Williams keeps his mouth shut. He runs back offensive sets. They weren’t always pristine, but for the second consecutive night, on defense. Then he does it all over again. the Blue Devils bombed away from 3 — and didn’t completely brick. Six makes might not sound ideal, until you put it in the context of just 15 attempts. Krzyzewski would So consider all that and then contrast it with the moment Williams did flex his like both totals to be higher, but that dog’ll still hunt. emotional muscle, in the waning minutes of Duke’s 70-56 win over Louisville on Wednesday in the second round of the ACC tournament. After blowing a 14-point Also, with Williams playing the way he did, the need for a perimeter-oriented offense first-half lead, the Blue Devils stormed back after halftime and maintained a was diminished. Louisville was playing without Malik Williams and had no real match healthy cushion throughout the second half. Then, with about four minutes to play for the man with a 7-foot-5 wingspan. Not that many teams have an answer for that. and Duke up 10, Jordan Goldwire attempted a 3-pointer than banked out. Williams was there to grab the offensive rebound — one of his seven on the night — and threw Now, the 32 minutes Williams played certainly would have been felt on the team’s down a resounding dunk. hour-long drive back to Durham. (Duke has opted not to stay in Greensboro, instead doubling down on its COVID-19 precautions and keeping players in their rooms at Then something unique happened: Williams screamed, tilting his head back and the on-campus Washington Duke Inn.) He said he felt “all right” in the immediate letting out the sort of exuberant roar that had yet to be seen from Duke’s emerging aftermath, but there are a lot of places in his frame for Williams to feel aches and star. pains. He’ll almost certainly spend more time in the cold tub and stretching than he will on the game plan for the Seminoles. “Just expressing some emotion,” Williams said afterward, flashing a toothy grin. “We lost to that team twice in the regular season, and that feeling hurt. To come out That, though, is what the Blue Devils need from him. Think back to that last dunk, today and play the way that we did, it was fun.” to Williams winding up and unleashing a roar. For him to express himself on the court, in the middle of a basketball game, tells you all you need to know about Fun, indeed, especially if you’re Williams. What else would you call recording where this Duke team is, knee-deep in its never-accomplished five-in-five journey. a game-high 23 points and 19 rebounds? Obscene, maybe. Williams set an ACC So if Williams needs ice on his knees instead of time on his feet, so be it. There tournament freshman record for boards in a game. The guy he surpassed? Oh, only isn’t a viable path for this team to keep winning without him. If the shattering of Ralph Sampson. Sampson’s record wasn’t a giveaway, then his performance in three games against Louisville should be. “Look, Mark was fabulous, not good,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He only had one rebound yesterday, so he’s averaging 10 a game. Just to keep his ego in In the first meeting, Williams didn’t play. Duke lost. The second time, he had eight check.” points, his fewest in the last six games. Duke lost again. You already know the numbers he put up on Wednesday. If being mentioned in the same breath as Sampson doesn’t get the point across, consider the rest of Williams’ staggering growth. He entered Duke as a five-star Sometimes, it is that simple. prospect out of highly regarded IMG Academy, so he was hardly an afterthought. But after barely seeing the floor over the first two months of the season — Krzyzewski For an encore, Williams will hardly get a walk in the park. Florida State, the No. 2 started him in December against Illinois, only to immediately yank him — it’s almost seed in this event, practically plucks giants off the trees in Tallahassee. Per KenPom. difficult to accept this is the same player. Early mornings and late nights with com, the Seminoles have the tallest average height — 79.6 inches, or just over 6-6 — associate head coach Nate James, though, have clearly paid off. James’ reputation of any team in college basketball. That is a far cry from Louisville. as a big-man whisperer is well known, from Marvin Bagley III to Zion Williamson to Vernon Carey Jr.; Williams is just his latest project. But Williams is also a far cry from any other player the Seminoles have seen, even if he remains a work in progress.