That trend continued Tuesday night, when Williams scored 25 points to lead No. 1 Duke to a 102-60 rout of Davidson in front of 9,314 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Williams, who entered this season with a personal-best game of 22 points, has had 23, 30 and 25 in his past three games. In the past two, he has gone 19-for-24 from the floor, including 12-for-17 on three-pointers.
"He's playing excellent basketball," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Big-time basketball. He's playing really hard. He's a hell of a player. I know when Jason Williams plays he's going to give you 'X' amount of stats.
"That's when you know you've arrived as a player - each time you (play) you're going to give a pretty good number. Jason has done that."
While Williams has flourished, Battier has struggled for the better part of the season, and that, too, continued against Davidson (3-5). He missed his first eight shots and finished 3-for-13 -- 0-for-6 on three-pointers -- for eight points.
It was the third time in five games Battier has scored less than 10 points. He failed to score in double figures just three times in 34 games last season.
Battier acknowledged Williams has become a star, but hedged when asked if Williams had become the team's brightest star.
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Jammin' James: Duke's Nate James slams home a dunk.
BOB JORDAN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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"It's early," Battier said. "Jason's playing amazing, and he's been one of the best guards in the country. He's benefited from teams trying to stop Carlos (Boozer of Juneau) and I, just like I benefited from teams trying to stop Chris Carrawell last season. It's always been that way at Duke since I've been here. Elton Brand benefited from teams trying to stop Trajan Langdon."
Williams deferred to the Duke captain.
"I still think Shane Battier is the best player on this team," Williams said. "Just because he hasn't been hitting his shots, he's still the best player. I do have a huge role on this team, with Shane. I try to be a leader. I improved a lot this summer and it's starting to show."
Duke (8-0) struggled as much as a team can struggle, considering it topped the 90-point mark in 31 minutes and reached 100 with four minutes to play.
But the Blue Devils shot just 40 percent from the floor, and had such lowlights as a pair of air-balled free throws by Matt Christensen, a missed dunk by Boozer -- who was benched for the final 18 minutes and finished with just four points and six rebounds in 14 minutes of action -- and a missed dunk by Battier.
"It shows what Duke can do to you," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "Shane Battier goes 0-for-6 on three-pointers and 3-for-13 overall, and they win by 40."
