Freshman Mark Williams posted career-highs with 23 points and 19 rebounds to keep Duke's slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive following a 70-56 victory over Louisville on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC tournament in Greensboro.
The No. 10-seed Blue Devils (13-11), who have not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1995, would likely need to win the conference tourney to keep that from happening this year. Duke's next hurdle will be a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday against No. 2-seed Florida State (15-5).
Williams shot 9 of 14 from the field and recorded only the second double-double of his career. He dominated in the paint, earning his team several second-chance points with seven offensive rebounds.
All-ACC first team forward Matthew Hurt also had a solid performance with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting and collected five rebounds as Duke beat Louisville after losing twice to the Cardinals during the regular season.
David Johnson totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Cardinals (13-7), who ESPN's Joe Lunardi had projected to make the NCAA Tournament entering the game.
But Louisville's own All-ACC first teamer Carlik Jones was held without a field goal for the first nine and a half minutes of the game and finished with 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting.
The Cardinals opened the game missing 11 of their first 13 shots before a 9 of 16 hot streak just before halftime during a 14-0 run tied the game at 29.
But while Louisville tried to push the ball up the court and speed up the tempo, Duke did a good job limiting the Cardinals with their defense. Louisville shot only 30.6 percent from the floor and 28 percent from 3-point range.
Wendell Moore Jr. finished with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists for Duke, which went 6-for-15 from 3-point range one game after making a season-high 15 triples against Boston College. The Blue Devils shot 44.8 percent overall. DJ Steward and Jeremy Roach also chipped in nine points.
--Field Level Media
Duke | Louisville | |
Mark Williams 23 | Scoring | David Johnson 14 |
Wendell Moore Jr. 5 | Assists | Carlik Jones 3 |
Mark Williams 19 | Rebounds | David Johnson 11 |
Mark Williams 5 | Free Throws Made | David Johnson 2 |
Jordan Goldwire 2 | Steals | David Johnson 1 |
Matthew Hurt 1 | Blocks | Carlik Jones 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Duke | 70 | 44.8 | 6-15 | 12-20 | 11 | 41 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
Louisville | 56 | 30.6 | 7-25 | 11-15 | 7 | 34 | 1 | 4 | 8 |