The towering figure that is Mark Williams is no longer just the 7-footer that spells Matthew Hurt whenever the latter gets into foul trouble.
Williams has been more than that for a few games now, but Duke’s win against N.C. State Saturday proved that the freshman center can be the difference between whether or not this team sneaks in the back door of the NCAA tournament. And that’s not solely because of Williams’ ability to fill up the box score, although that helps. What truly sticks out about the Virginia native is the effect he has on Duke’s leading scorer, Hurt.
“Me and Mark do a lot of stuff everyday together with our bigs coach, Coach [Nate] James, and he does a great job with high-lowing,” Hurt said. “When I have a small guy, having Mark flash; or Mark has a small guy, I flash. So I think we do it every single day and it’s translating in the games, so we’re just gonna try to keep getting better at it.”
It’s difficult to quantify exactly how much having Williams on the floor improves Hurt’s performance, but it’s worth recognizing that Hurt tied a career-high with six 3-pointers against the Wolfpack in a game in which Williams set career-highs of his own in points, blocks and minutes. On top of that, Williams was on the floor for seven of Hurt’s eight made field goals.
“As far as the assists and stuff go, I think again working with the coaches, making those right plays, making the right passes, whether it’s to shoot or attack,” Williams said. “And then setting the screens—my teammates find me in the right places for me to get those easy finishes.”
A perfect example of Williams’ ability to spring Hurt open came with 3:27 left in Saturday’s contest. Williams flashed past the top of the key and, while receiving a pass from Jordan Goldwire, drew the attention of both N.C. State’s bigs, giving Hurt the necessary space to sink the 3-pointer off of a Williams handoff.
That wasn’t the only time that Williams helped create a quality look for Hurt, though. Early in the game, Hurt got himself open by setting a ball screen for Wendell Moore Jr., but Williams impacted the play because of what he chose not to do. Instead of flashing to the high post or attempting to set a ball screen for Hurt, he opted to stay in the low post, forcing Wolfpack big man Manny Bates to sag down on him and not rotate onto the open Hurt.
Another aspect of Williams’ presence that specifically helps Hurt is quelling the latter’s biggest weakness: foul trouble on the defensive end.
Take Duke’s loss to North Carolina Feb. 6, for example. Hurt struggled to defend the Tar Heel bigs and ended up fouling out with four minutes left in the contest, leaving the Blue Devils without their best offensive weapon in crunch time.
Against N.C. State, Williams played almost double the amount of minutes he did against North Carolina, and the result of that was him being able to help Hurt in defending both the rim and the N.C. State big men.
Even on the nights in which Williams isn't able to complement Hurt on offense as well as he did Saturday, the value that he brings in terms of keeping Hurt out of foul trouble is essential to the future success of this team.
The Blue Devils have had a revolving door of No. 2 options behind Hurt this year, and although Williams doesn’t have the transition capabilities of Jalen Johnson or the smooth outside stroke of DJ Steward, he’s proven he complements Hurt best.
In late January, the conundrum of Johnson and Hurt was a big issue facing Duke, and while Williams may not have seemed like the most likely solution at the time, it has worked out well thus far.
Next, the Blue Devils will face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., Wednesday, and if the past is any indicator of the future, Duke could be in for another evening of the Williams-Hurt show.
“If there’s a big guy playing like Mark is, you’ve got to play him,” Krzyzewski said. “Mark and Matt, they were really good today.”
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Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.