Mark Williams, Theo John get into immediate foul trouble against UNC

Duke faced some challenges in the first half of their Final Four game againt rival North Carolina on Saturday in New Orleans, all highlighted by foul trouble.

Starting Blue Devils center Mark Williams committed two fouls early in the game. He picked up his first foul about four and a half minutes into the game. Then he picked up his second foul 19 seconds later.

Mike Krzyzewski didn’t want to take further chances with his big man and sat Williams down. In came Theo John, who picked up where Williams left off. John was called for a foul almost immediately. He picked up four fouls in the first half.

Though John got into foul trouble too, he did his job. He needed to pick up the slack for Williams, who took the entire rest of the half off to avoid picking up a third foul.

John scored six points with four rebounds in the first half. Williams had four points in his limited action.

The Tar Heels might be tempted to pound the ball inside in the second half and try to get Duke’s big men to foul out.