Mark Williams' career game powers Duke past Louisville in ACC Tournament

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Duke may be in "win and survive" mode at the ACC Tournament, but Mark Williams showed that there was still room to thrive with the season on the line. 

Facing a Louisville team that already beat the Blue Devils twice this year, Williams played the best game of his young college career, scoring a season-high 23 points while setting a freshman ACC Tournament record with 19 rebounds in leading Duke to a 70-56 second-round win over the Cardinals.

Williams' 19 rebounds eclipsed a record set by Virginia's Ralph Sampson against Clemson in 1980. 

"Mark was not good, he was fabulous," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. 

But in true Coach K fashion, he made sure his freshman kept "his ego in check."

"You know he only had one rebound yesterday (during Duke's 86-51 first-round win over Boston College)," he said. "So he's averaging 10 a game."

Williams entered Wednesday's game already on a hot streak, making 22 of his last 26 shots over the last three games, including a 6-of-7 performance against Boston College. 

Williams did not play the first time Duke lost to Louisville and during a Feb. 27 overtime loss, he had an off night, scoring eight points in the 80-73 decision.

Needless to say, the Cardinals faced the freshman in his true form at the ACC Tournament. They had no answer for Williams, who swallowed up offensive rebounds and second-chance points like candy.

March Madness:Get in on the bracket fun

Coach K underachieving? Six men's basketball coaches who are underachievers at Power Five schools based on pay

"I didn't play that first time, but from there, I just had to grow, keep working hard," Williams said. "And then today I just got to show a little bit of what I could do."

Williams' normally expressionless face came alive as his aggressive dunk with 3:57 left in the game pushed Duke's lead to an insurmountable 63-51.

"Well, he's 7'1" and has a 7'5" wingspan," Coach K said. "We start off with that, so that really makes him different. It's just a matter of how outstanding he becomes and how it comes along."

No. 10-seeded Duke (13-11, 9-9 ACC), which likely needs to win the ACC Tournament to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995, will face No. 2 seed Florida State at 6:30 p.m. ET Thursday.

FSU (15-5) has not played since March 6 when it dropped its regular-season finale to Notre Dame, which cost the Seminoles the tournament's No. 1 seed.

Duke and Florida State were set to play earlier in the season before the Seminoles had a positive COVID-19 test that forced its eventual cancellation. 

"I'm so proud of him (Williams), our teammates are so proud of him," said sophomore Matthew Hurt, who added 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the win. "But he knows tomorrow that it's going to be a big game."

David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.