PHILADELPHIA - During an official's timeout with 2:23 left in the first half and the Blue Devils watching their lead over the UCLA Bruins slowly vanish to seven points, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had his team form a tight circle around him. And then, as he turned bright red, he blasted his players for their lack of effort.
He concentrated much of his energy on Jason Williams.
It was well deserved. The All-America sophomore had only eight points and was sitting on a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, two stats he would carry into the half.
No one outside of Duke's locker room knows what Krzyzewski said at the half, but by the time the final buzzer sounded, Williams had a career-high 34 points along with four assists, three steals, two rebounds and some great defense.
"Coach told me to take more shots," Williams said. "I kind of hit a rhythm in the second half and was just firing away."
That proved to be the New Jersey native's specialty during Duke's 76-63 defeat
On the offensive end, he took the game over and eased the minds of Blue Devils fans everywhere.
"He got in the zone and they were just easy assists for me," Mike Dunleavy said. "When a teammate's firing like that, you give him the ball."
In short, for seven minutes at least, Williams proved why he is an All-American.
"Jason's a tremendous talent for us," Shane Battier said. "It didn't surprise us that he could do that for us."
However, Williams will be the first to admit that he did not take over the game. After all, this is not the NBA, so defense still counts for something. And fortunately for Williams, his teammates were playing some of their best of the year-creating turnovers and throwing long passes to break the Bruins' press.
But it was Williams who had the hot hand and was putting the much-needed points on the board. His teammates were not cold-the Blue Devils shot 54 percent during the second half-they just knew he was in a zone.
"He's been able to play with a lot of freedom all year," UCLA point guard Earl Watson said. "Their strategy was great, and he's been playing great all tournament and all year."
Williams did, however, have help beyond Duke's defense. There was Battier, who threw in a 24-point, 11-rebound game, something that Duke fans have come to expect the last four weeks. The national player of the year made two of the biggest shots of the game and was always there to fire up his teammates when they looked sluggish.
But it was Williams who was in the zone. He refused to lose.
"Last year I was really upset to see Chris Carrawell not go out on top," Williams said. "So I busted my butt all summer. I didn't want to let my team down. I love these guys more than anything, and I'll do anything to win."
After all, he is an All-American.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.