Williams Gets Duke Home Free

Jason Williams has been a liability at times on the free-throw line, but the All-American guard didn’t blink under NCAA tournament pressure Saturday.

Williams, only five for 18 from the field, made four consecutive free throws down the stretch as top-seeded and defending national champion Duke rallied for an 84-77 second-round victory over Notre Dame in the South Regional.

“I would rather have people who shoot free throws than people who don’t want the ball,” said Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who improved to 58-14 in the NCAA tournament. “Jason has wanted the ball his whole career at Duke.”

Williams is a 67% free-throw shooter, and one of his lowlights came in Duke’s first loss of the season, against Florida State on Jan. 6. In that game, Williams missed six consecutive free throws in the final five minutes.

On Saturday, he noticed some Irish fans doing the “tomahawk chop” chant with the game on the line.

“Ever since we lost to Florida State a lot of opposing fans are doing that,” Williams said. “If anything, it helps me focus even more because it makes me remember when I missed six in a row. It helps me buckle down.”

He made the go-ahead free throws with 1:04 left as the Blue Devils (31-3) advanced to the round of 16 for the fifth year in a row and 18th time overall.

Daniel Ewing, a freshman who is the likely replacement for Williams when he turns pro after this season, had a career-high 18 points and six rebounds.

Eighth-seeded Notre Dame (22-11) got 20 points each from David Graves and Matt Carroll, but the Irish folded down the stretch. Their coach, former Duke assistant Mike Brey, couldn’t pull off the program’s 10th victory over a No. 1-ranked team.

Notre Dame led, 71-64, with about six minutes left, but was outscored, 20-6, the rest of the way.

“When they were down seven and their life was flashing before their eyes, [Duke] really locked in on defense,” Brey said.

At one point in the second half, Duke was one for seven from the foul line, but made 11 of 12 free throws over the final 1:47.

Two free throws by Chris Duhon tied it at 71-71 with 4:28 left, and the score was tied twice more, the last time at 75 with one minute remaining.