Duke Starts With "D"

Looking closely, there were glimmers of hope in Temple’s 74-64 loss to Duke on Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center.

The Owls had the worst shooting night of Coach Fran Dunphy’s two-year tenure – hitting 34.5 percent of their field goal attempts – and they finished with 20 turnovers, yet they were still just eight points down with eight minutes to go.

The reason for hope: They did it with defense.

The Blue Devils went scoreless for seven minutes and 59 seconds in the second half, missing 11 straight shots as the Owls scrambled back from a 53-34 deficit. With an 11-0 run, fueled by nine free throws, Temple cut the deficit to 53-45.

But it got no closer than that. The Blue Devils regained control with an 8-0 burst, and the Owls weren’t able to make another run.

Eleven days earlier, Dunphy’s team allowed Florida to shoot 60 percent from the floor in a lopsided loss. It’s not hard to guess what they’ve been working on since the New Year.

Duke had its second-worst shooting night of the season, hitting 38.2 percent of its field goal attempts. Only Pittsburgh held Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad to a lower number.

Regardless of Temple’s offensive numbers, it was good to see that the Owls can put the brakes on somebody not named Towson or Bowling Green.

The Blue Devils were missing their two biggest players – sophomore center Brian Zoubek and sophomore forward Lance Thomas. No doubt that helped the Owls in grabbing a season-best 17 offensive rebounds. They limited Duke to 10 offensive rebounds.

But the Blue Devils were much better on the perimeter, contesting almost every Temple pass and shot attempt. And they hit enough three-point shots (8 of 21) to maintain a fairly comfortable lead.

For the Owls, Dionte Christmas went 0 for 6 from three-point range and had five points in the first half. Temple trailed, 39-23, at the break. It could have been worse without a pair of three-pointers from sophomore guard Ryan Brooks.

Christmas bounced back with 18 points in the second half, hitting 3 of 5 threes and 7 of 8 free throws. Brooks didn’t score again, as the Blue Devils prevented him from getting any open three-point looks.

Senior guard Mark Tyndale once again struggled in his leadership role. He wasn’t even on the floor when the Owls made their 11-0 run, thanks to foul trouble. Tyndale scored 12 of his 20 points in the last four minutes, when the outcome was already decided.

While he didn’t get a lot of offensive touches, Lavoy Allen played with a lot of fire, totaling four blocked shots and an intentional foul call for knocking Duke guard Nolan Smith to the floor. Sergio Olmos was also active in the paint, though limited by foul trouble. Olmos did miss a few close-in shots that he should have made.

The Owls will open Atlantic 10 play at Charlotte (which just won at Clemson) on Saturday night.

Coach Fran Dunphy: Listen to Audio

Coach Mike Krzyzewski: Listen to Audio

Dionte Christmas: Listen to Audio

Mark Tyndale: Listen to Audio

Sergio Olmos: Listen to Audio

Harvey Levine's Duke-Temple Gallery