Williams’ Big Night Leads Duke Past Louisville, 70-56

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Freshman Mark Williams had a career-high 23 points and 19 rebounds, while sophomore Matthew Hurt added 20 points as Duke beat Louisville, 70-56, Wednesday night to advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

Williams finished 9-of-14 from the field for his second 20-point outing in the last four games. The 7-foot center controlled the glass all night, with seven of his boards coming on the offensive end. The Blue Devils (13-11) opened the second half with a 9-0 run and were able to maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the period, with Williams contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.

His 19 rebounds were the third-most by a Duke freshman in any game and tied for the second most by a Duke player in the ACC Tournament behind 20 from Art Heyman against Clemson in the 1962 semifinals.

Louisville (13-7) turned a 14-point deficit into a two-point lead with a 16-0 spurt in the last four minutes of the first half. Duke would respond with a corner three from Hurt with 38 seconds remaining that put his team in front, 30-29, heading into the break. The Blue Devils limited the Cardinals to 8-of-33 shooting (.242) in the second half to come away with their second win in two days and set up a meeting with No. 2-seed Florida State in the quarterfinals on Thursday night.

Hurt shot 7-of-12 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, for 20 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Wendell Moore Jr., posted another all-around stat line, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and a game-high five assists. The freshman guard tandem of Jeremy Roach and DJ Steward added nine points each.

David Johnson led Louisville with 14 points and 11 boards, while Carlik Jones scored 13 on 5-of-14 shooting. Duke snapped a three-game losing skid to the Cardinals, which included a regular season sweep by Louisville with each game decided by under 10 points.

The Blue Devils and Seminoles will meet for the first time this season after their matchup scheduled for Jan. 2 was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Florida State program. The game tips at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.