N.C. State walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium at the wrong time.
For two straight games, Jason Williams had not looked like himself, and the Duke offense suffered as a result.
Yesterday, however, Williams regained the form that has made him a candidate for national player of the year. He scored a team-high 23 points and, more importantly, he effectively handled the ball throughout the game by posting eight assists and only two turnovers as the Blue Devils steamrolled the Wolfpack 101-75.
"I think it was just normal of what he can do," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "The last couple of games he was changing his role, and we don't want him to change his role. He's got to be in attack mode."
In two games against Florida State and Clemson, Williams was not in attack mode. He scored only 16 combined points and turned the ball over 12 times. Although Duke handily won those contests, the offense looked out of sync at times.
"I think I just got off attack mode a little bit," Williams said. "Not that I was trying to do that, but I just wasn't really me."
Krzyzewski attributed the problems to Williams' announcement of his decision to remain in school.
"I think he made the announcement of staying, and he was like, 'Now I'll just feed the ball to other people,'" Krzyzewski said. "[He did that] instead of just being himself. Those are the kind of things that happen during a season. But I thought he adjusted very well tonight."
Williams attacked the Wolfpack defense from the opening tipoff. He hit 5-of-8 shots in the first half, including 2-of-5 from behind the arc to post a team-high 12 points.
The result was a smoother running Duke offense that posted a 20-point lead at the half.
"We take his lead," power forward Shane Battier said. "If Jason is attacking and slashing and shooting and penetrating and doing the things that he does better than anyone, it's very easy."
Williams took the lead on both offense and defense. He consistently harassed N.C. State's ball-handlers, drew a pair of charging calls and also added three steals.
"When you play good defense, and when you play hard defense, it throws you into the game offensively," Williams said. "I think that [defense] was really big for us tonight."
Williams changed the complexion of the game with his outside shooting. His 4-for-8 performance from downtown forced the Wolfpack to spread out its defense.
With the interior cleared out, center Carlos Boozer wreaked havoc.
Boozer shot an impressive 7-of-10 from the floor and scored 17 points in only 24 minutes. This represented a dramatic turnaround from the Clemson game, when he took five shots and scored only nine points.
"I think by not being aggressive offensively, it makes it that much more difficult to get the ball into the post," Williams said. "You have a lot of players back off you because they know you aren't going to shoot. That caused me to have 10 turnovers [in the Clemson game].
"Today they backed off me and I shot the ball. I made some shots and that made it that much easier for me to get it to the post, and Carlos did a great job."
As he ripped through an overmatched N.C. State team, Williams had some added motivation. In attendance was the man who defined the point guard position at Duke-Bobby Hurley.
"The thing I liked about Bobby Hurley the most is that he never quit," Williams said. "I think we are similar in our ways. He'd put his life on the line for somebody, and I have that same mentality where I'll do whatever it takes. He's a winner, and that's what I love about him."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.