UCLA UCLA/Duke Duke Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Jason Williams, the top-ranked Blue Devils' other All-American, took over in the second half Thursday night, sending Duke to the regional finals for the 10th time in 16 years.

The sophomore guard matched his career high with 34 points in the 76-63 victory over fourth-seeded UCLA, including scoring 19 straight for the Blue Devils in the second half.


	Jason Williams, right, went around, over and through the UCLA defense for 34 points. He scored 19 straight for Duke in the second half.

"I just got a lot of open looks and I was trying to get in the lane," said Williams, who had 34 points earlier this season against Boston College. "Sometimes your shot isn't falling and you just go out and keep playing."

Now the Blue Devils (32-4) will keep playing, facing sixth-seeded Southern California on Saturday night, with the winner advancing to the Final Four. The Trojans beat second-seeded Kentucky 80-76.

"UCLA was too tough for me to have looked ahead to either USC or Kentucky," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

The Bruins (23-9) were down 33-26 at halftime as Battier had 14 points and eight rebounds.

UCLA closed to 40-37 on a 3-pointer by Earl Watson with 14:53 left, and that's when Williams went to work.

Krzyzewski said the point guard was trying too hard to get his teammates involved.

"(Assistant coach) Johnny Dawkins told Jason, `You do your thing,' and he did his thing and that's why we won," Krzyzewski said.

March 22
The Dukies move on to the Elite Eight thanks to an unbelievable performance by All-America guard Jason Williams. Williams just dominated in the second half, when he scored 19 consecutive points at one time, to dash any dream Steve Lavin had of reuniting the Bruins' cross-city rivalry with USC in the regional finals.

Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils will march on after they get a strong performance by Williams, a solid performance by Shane Battier and a tough defensive effort. Carlos Boozer gave them quality minutes and a presence on the inside, althouth he showed the effects of his long layoff.

But this one was the Jason Williams Show, put on by the best guard in America, and it's Duke against USC for the right to go to the Metrodome, the site of Duke's national title in 1992.

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Williams started his personal run with a 3-pointer -- one of six he had in the game -- with 14:29 to play and added in some slicing drives, a converted lob pass and two more 3s. He had 26 points in the second half.

"It meant a lot of easy assists for me," Duke's Mike Dunleavy said. "When we see a teammate like that, we just get him the ball. Jay called the lob and it was great call."

Williams' run ended with a drive that put the Blue Devils up 59-51 with 8:40 to play.

UCLA was never able to get closer than that the rest of the way as Duke closed the game by going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:29.

"Jason's a tremendous talent for us and it didn't surprise us that he could do that for us," said Battier, who finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, the third game in this tournament he has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

"At different times of the season, Jason and Shane have carried us in big games," Krzyzewski said. "Tonight, it was team defense that took over."

Watson had 17 points for UCLA, while Jason Kapono, the Bruins' leading scorer, had 12, five below his average, on 3-for-10 shooting as he struggled with foul trouble, getting four in the first half.

"After they called the ticky-tack fouls, you have to change your whole mindset, and that's tough to deal with," Kapono said.

UCLA coach Steve Lavin said the 23 turnovers hurt his team, but he also had praise for Williams.

"Their complementary players weren't making shots, but the run Jason Williams had was probably the difference in the game," he said.

It wasn't the first time Williams had a great game in the First Union Center. He scored 30 in the building against Temple on Dec. 2, including going 8-for-10 from 3-point range.

Williams finished 6-for-13 from beyond the arc against UCLA, and the Blue Devils were 8-for-31 after going 4-for-19 in the first half.

Williams had 22 points in Duke's opening-round win over Monmouth and had 31 in the second-round win over Missouri.

The game marked the return of Duke center Carlos Boozer, who missed the previous six games after breaking a bone in his foot. He finished with two points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.

"It felt great to be back out there," Boozer said. "I thought it went well. I was a little winded, but other than that it was OK."

The game was a matchup of the two winningest teams in NCAA tournament play as Duke entered 69-22 (75.8 percent) and UCLA was 78-28 (73.4 percent).

The crowd of 20,270 was the largest to ever see a college basketball game in Pennsylvania.

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

UCLA Clubhouse

Duke Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Mike Krzyzewski is happy to be back in the Elite Eight. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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Steve Lavin feels Jason Williams' run was too much for the Bruins. (Courtesy: NCAA Prod.)
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