Temple University Athletics
Temple University
10-3
Duke
12-2
Temple Shocks the Nation; Defeats No. 3/5 Duke, 78-73 Behind Wyatt's 22 Points
1.4.12 | Men's Basketball
The Owls defeat a top 10 nationally ranked opponent for the fourth straight season
Box Score (PDF) | Postgame Notes | Temple Quotes | Duke Quotes | Fran Dunphy Video | Players Video | Photo Gallery
PHILADELPHIA—In front of the third-largest crowd ever to attend a college basketball game at the Wells Fargo Center, the Temple Owls stunned the nation. With an 78-73 upset victory over the #3/5 Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday night, the Owls knocked off a top 10 nationally ranked opponent for the fourth consecutive season.
Junior Khalif Wyatt was the catalyst for the Owls from the start as he carried his team with a game-high 22 points on an 8-of-12 shooting night. In the process, Temple made a season-high 31 field goals and won the rebounding battle, 32-29 behind redshirt freshman Anthony Lee's seven boards to help give the Owls' their fourth straight win to improve to 10-3 on the year.
It marked Temple's first win over Duke (12-2) since January 25, 1996, and in the process snapped a nine-game losing streak the nation's premier program.
Wyatt, who made two huge treys in the second half, led the way, but it was a total team effort in the victory. Five Temple players scored in double figures.
The inside tandem of Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson and Anthony Lee were more than up to the challenge against the Duke front court that featured two 6-11 forwards (Ryan Kelly and Marshall Plumlee) and another 6-10 forward (Mason Plumee).
Hollis-Jefferson contributed a season high 17 points on seven-of-10 shooting while grabbing six rebounds. Lee, a redshirt freshman, had his best game as an Owl, scoring 11 points, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and rejecting a game-high three shots.
The duo led the Cherry and White to an improbable 32-29 rebound advantage.
Temple's trio of guards also played outstanding in controlling the tempo of the contest. Ramone Moore scored 11 points on five of nine from the field. He also added four assists. Juan Fernandez, held in check from three-point range the entire night (0-1), had a season-lowo four points, but dished a game-high six assists.
Sophomore Aaron Brown, who continued his offensive spark off the bench, scored in double figures (11) for the fifth time in the last eight games.
In a game many thought Temple was outmanned to compete in, the Owls never trailed after taking an 18-17 lead at the 10:43 mark of the first half on a Hollis-Jefferson 17-foot jumper. The rest of the half was between one-two possession lead for TU with the Owls taking a 35-33 lead at intermission.
A Lee lay-up and a Wyatt steal (one of his five on the night) and jumper gave Temple its biggest lead, 39-33, at the start of the second half. Temple extended it to seven on a steal by T.J. DiLeo and dish to Brown for a slam (47-40, 13:48).
Three minutes later Moore and Wyatt connected on consecutive three-pointers to make it a 10-point game (55-45) with 9:24 to play.
Duke whittled the lead to three (60-57) with just under five minutes to play, but Temple responded with an 8-0 run fueled by back-to-back Wyatt treys to take their largest lead, 68-57, with 3:06 left.
The Owls, who connected on a season-high 56.4 percent from the field (31/55), would not let the Blue Devils get closer than six until a Quinn Cook three-pointer fell with under a second remaining to account for the final score.
Mason Plumlee led Duke with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Austin Rivers added 12 points.
Temple next hosts Dayton in its Atlantic 10 Conference opener on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (Comcast SportsNet/1210 AM WPHT).
