Temple University Athletics
COLLINS' COURAGEOUS EFFORT NOT ENOUGH AS OWLS FALL TO TOP-RANKED DUKE
2.25.06 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA -- Senior All-America candidate Mardy Collins was the best player on the floor Saturday afternoon at The Wachovia Center, scoring 26 points in 31 minutes, but it was not enough as the Owls suffered a hard-fought, 74-66, loss to top-ranked Duke. Temple held senior guard J.J. Redick, the nation's second leading scoring with a 28.7 average, to a season-low 11 points but teammate Shelden Williams compensated with 23 to ensure the Blue Devils their 10th straight win before 20,313 fans, the third largest crowd to ever witness a college basketball game in the State of Pennsylvania.
"You can't put your fingers in any hole to stop this team," said Temple head coach John Chaney.
"We could not stop the great player in Williams inside."
Collins played the game's final 4:09 on a sprained right foot after exiting the game with 6:54 remaining to attend to the injury. The 6-6 playmaker was also on the bench for the final 5:50 of the opening stanza after taking a seat with two fouls. Despite playing his second lowest minute total of the season, Collins shot 13 of 25 from the field and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
The game had the potential for a dramatic finish after a Mark Tyndale driving lay-up with 6:04 remaining brought the Owls within five, 61-56, to cap a seven-point run. A Dustin Salisbery steal on Duke's ensuing possession further turned the momentum in Temple's favor but a missed lay-up by Nehemiah Ingram was followed by a five-point Duke run to extinguish the rambunctious crowd.
The miss was one of several late opportunities in the paint that the Owls failed to capitalize on.
The Owls went on a five-point run in the contest's final minute and reduced the deficit to five points once again, 71-66, with 21 second remaining on a Antywane Robinson three-pointer.
Unfortunately, the effort would prove too late as Duke hit its free throws down the stretch to ensure its sixth straight win over the Cherry & White.
Duke scored 10 of the first 13 points after halftime and led by as many as 15 points (56-41) at the midpoint of the second half.
Temple (15-11) shot 40.8 percent, making 29 of a season-high 71 field goal attempts, while connecting of four of 17 attempts from behind the arc. Robinson joined Collins' in double figures, making five of nine shots to finish with 13 points. Duke (27-1) made 45.8 percent (22-48) of attempts from the field, including a 25 percent (5-20) mark from long range. In addition to Williams and Redick, Greg Paulus (13), DeMarcus Nelson (12), and Josh McRoberts (10) posted double figures.
Collins was energized early by the electric environment, making his first three shots to provide the Owls an early 6-4 lead. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, uncharacteristically committed turnovers on two of their first three trip down the floor. The rest of Temple's starting five, was not as hot as
Collins, however, combining to miss their first five attempts. Duke made five of its initial seven attempts from the field to take a 12-6 lead.
Collins, who made four of his first five shots, returned the lead to Owls, driving the lane for two to give the home squad a 16-15 edge as both teams were shooting above a 50 percent clip early. Duke scored 17 of the game's next 26 points to take a seven-point (32-25) advantage, its largest lead of the first half on a Paulus 21-foot jumper.
Temple faced a major gut check with 5:50 remaining before the break when Collins, the team's leader both in and out of the scoring column, was whistled for his second foul and took a seat.
Sophomore Chris Clark came off the bench for the most significant minutes of his young career with Temple trailing 33-27. The Owls held tough, and did not skip a beat with the 5-8 guard running the point and played even with the country's top club for the remainder of the opening stanza. Temple entered the locker room at the midpoint facing a 38-32 deficit.
The Owls shot 42.9 percent (15-35) in the first half, but made just one of eight attempts from behind the arc. Duke made 44.8 percent (13-29) of its field goal attempts and hit just two of 13 tries from long range, as Redick scored just two points prior to the break.
Despite the lowest scoring game of his season, Redick surpassed Dickie Hemrick to become the all-time leading scorer in Atlantic Coast Conference history.
Temple returns to the hardwood this Wednesday, March 1, in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at Rhode Island.
