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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Duke's domination of the Atlantic Coast Conference has reached yet another level. The second-ranked Blue Devils became the first league member in 26 years to win the ACC's regular season and tournament titles in back-to-back seasons as freshman Jason Williams starred in an 81-68 victory over No. 19 Maryland. Duke (27-4) captured its 11th ACC tournament championship and is the first team to complete the rare double-double in consecutive seasons since North Carolina State accomplished the feat in 1973-74. "Each year is its own entity," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We try to teach, go on to the next play with our kids and our program, so we just concentrated on this year. We've never talked about last year." The Blue Devils likely will ascend to the nation's No. 1 ranking tonight and will be the first school to enter the NCAA Tournament holding that spot in two straight years since DePaul in 1980 and 1981. "We're ecstatic about the win," Krzyzewski added. "I think Maryland is one of the top teams in the country. We had three great games with them this year and thank goodness we won the last one." Duke avenged a February 9 setback to Maryland -- its only ACC regular-season defeat in the last two years -- while denying the Terrapins their first league tournament crown since 1984. Maryland (24-9) was appearing in its first title game under coach Gary Williams. "We're really disappointed that we didn't win the championship," Gary Williams said. "Some people asked me how it felt getting to the finals. You know, it doesn't feel real good right now because we didn't win the championship." Jason Williams, a 6-2, 190-pound point guard, scored a season-high 23 points and drained perhaps the biggest basket of the game, a 3-pointer from the left wing that gave Duke a 61-52 lead with 3:46 to play. "Jason really made big plays for us," Krzyzewski said. "I thought his defense was outstanding, and his ability to get into the seams of their defense, breaking them down a little bit, really opened things up." Maryland had cut a 10-point deficit to 56-52 but a basket in the lane by Carlos Boozer and Williams' shot forced Gary Williams to call a timeout. The Terrapins got no closer than seven points the rest of the way. Jason Williams also had six assists, four rebounds and four steals for the Blue Devils, who will take a five-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament. They committed 17 turnovers but shot 48 percent (28-of-58) from the field and held Maryland to 39 percent (28-of-71). Boozer scored 21 points and Chris Carrawell added 13 with seven rebounds for Duke, which was 18-of-21 at the foul line. The Blue Devils held a 37-36 lead at the break and were clinging to a 48-44 advantage with just under 16 minutes left after a jumper by Maryland's Juan Dixon, the ACC's second-leading scorer who finished with 19 points. However, Boozer converted a layup, Battier made two free throws and Williams threw in a runner in the lane to push the lead to 54-44. "When you have players around like Shane (Battier) and Chris (Carrawell), they always make the job much easier on me," said Jason Williams, who was the tournament's MVP. "I think we all do it togethern, and I think the one leader is (Coach Krzyzewski)." Baskets by Dixon and Mardesich quickly got Maryland back into the game, but Williams once again was the go-to guy as his pull-up jumper in the lane steadied the Blue Devils, who were playing in their 21st ACC championship game. Duke's 11 ACC titles are second only to North Carolina's 15. Terence Morris had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins, who led 9-8 seven minutes into the game before Duke put together a 14-2 run which included four points by Boozer. After a basket by Baxter, Williams' three-point play gave Duke a 25-13 lead with 8:50 to go before halftime. Maryland answered with a 12-2 spurt to cut the deficit to two points and the game remained close deep into the second half. The Terrapins were 6-of-19 from beyond the arc and went to the foul line just eight times, converting six. "We were running an offense to get the ball inside," Dixon said. "We had a lot of layups, and a lot of opportunities to score inside, but it just didn't ffall for us today." .
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