Temple University Athletics
#5 Duke Defense Too Much For Owls in 73-55 Loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium
1.2.07 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2007
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DURHAM, NC - Temple's Fran Dunphy and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski were teammates 35 years ago on the armed forces basketball teams that toured the world. On Tuesday night at a sold-out Cameron Indoor Stadium, the two head coaches were reunited on the hardwood, this time as opponents in each team's final contest before beginning conference play this weekend. After jumping out to an early 16-4 lead, the Owls were forced to work for every shot and were stymied by arguably the nation's stingiest defense in falling to the #5 Blue Devils, 73-55.
Temple had to rely primarily on individual isolations on offense, thanks to Duke's overplaying man-to-man defense, which ranks third in the nation in scoring defense. Rarely did the visitors have an easy look and after getting out-rebounded 49-28, the Owls seldom had a second chance on the offensive end. Playing in one of the nation's toughest environments, TU battled from the opening buzzer, epitomized by the workmanlike performance of senior Dion Dacons.
The Statesville, NC returned to his home state for possibly the final time in his collegiate career and gave a gutsy performance. Just 72 hours from spraining his foot at Villanova, the 6-6 forward logged 37 minutes and pulled down nine rebounds against a Blue Devil front-line that featured a pair of players taller than 6-10.
"To come back home is always fun," Dacons said. "Like most ACC teams, they have guys that are taller than us. You have to do whatever you can to keep them off the boards."
Sophomore Dionte Christmas (team-high 15 points) and senior Dustin Salisbery (13 points) tried to create every shot off the dribble and at times, were successful. But the Blue Devils' depth allowed Kryzyewski to run fresh legs at them all game, as the rotation of DeMarcus Nelson (14 points, 11 rebounds), Jon Scheyer, Gerald Henderson and David McClure each spent time guarding the Temple duo.
Despite the raucous environment, the Cherry and White was far from shaken in the early going. Christmas and Salisbery (13 points) each scored six points in the 16-4 spurt over the game's first four minutes to take some of the crazy out of the Cameron Crazies.
"It was a good start for us, but we just couldn't sustain it," Dunphy said. "You don't think you can come here and do that because of how good a defensive basketball team they are."
The lead would slowly diminish, as Duke turned up the defense and became more patient offensively. The Blue Devils (13-1) especially clamped down on Christmas and Salisbery, as Temple's high-scoring duo combined for just two points as the hosts outscored TU, 31-12, before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Duke took its first lead of the game with 5:53 to play before the half on a freshman Brian Zoubek lay-up to take a 25-24 advantage. The bucket was near the tail-end of a 10-0 Blue Devil run over five minutes that turned a seven-point deficit into a three-point lead with 5:12 left.
The Owls tied the score at 28-28 on a jumper by junior Chris Clark, but Duke ran off the half's final seven points, including five by Greg Paulus. The sophomore's three-pointer with 36 ticks remaining proved to be a back-breaker.
"I think Paulus' jumper at the end of the half really hurt us," Dunphy said.
Temple drew within five points on two occasions but the Blue Devils proved to be too much to handle. Sophomore Josh McRoberts, who Krzyzewski labeled as one of the nation's most "unique" players, finished the game with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks. The 6-10 forward drew praise from his coach for his passing ability.
"Josh is a great passer," Krzyzewski said. "He's not a great passing big man, he's a great passer. He sees things like a point guard but he's like a point guard on stilts."
Junior Mark Tyndale finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, but like his counterparts in the TU backcourt, had to create all his shots on his own. Clark played a season-high 30 minutes and played a solid floor game, leading the Owls with four steals and three assists.
"I thought Chris played great," Dunphy said. "He came in and made it all the way to the basket that one time and made some things happen for us. He played very well and that's good to see."
The win ran Duke's non-conference home winning streak to 51 games, good for tops in the country. The last time the Blue Devils lost to a team outside the ACC at Cameron was an 83-82 decision against St. John's on February 26, 2000. It was also the 250th consecutive sell-out at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Temple (6-6) opens Atlantic 10 play on Saturday when it visits Xavier (7 p.m/Comcast SportsNet/1210 WPHT).
