Men's Basketball Falls to #4/3 Duke in Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

Friday, November 21

Barclays Center

9:30 p.m.

Temple University

2-1

Duke

4-0

Temple

Duke

Will Cummings

Photo by: Steven Ryan

Men's Basketball Falls to #4/3 Duke in Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

11.21.14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BROOKLYN - Despite a defensive effort that held #4/3 Duke to well below its season averages, Temple men's basketball dropped its first game of the season by a score of 74-54 to the Blue Devils (4-0) in the Northwestern Mutual Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Barclays Center on Friday night. The Owls (2-1) were within 10 points at halftime, and had three players finish in double figures, led by senior Will Cummings with 18 points.

Sophomore Josh Brown came off the bench for 11 points in 19 minutes of action, marking his second-straight double-figure scoring effort. Junior Quenton DeCosey put up 10 points and three blocks for Temple, while junior Devontae Watson led all players in the contest with nine rebounds.

Duke came into the contest averaging 101 points over its first three games, while shooting over 60 percent from the field. The Owls held the Blue Devils to 39 percent shooting, but that figure was lower for much of the game. Temple shot over 37 percent and had 40 rebounds to Duke's 43.

Turnovers were costly for the Owls most of the game, particularly early on. They made up for some of those missed opportunities by finishing with a 17-5 edge in second chance points.

Senior Quinn Cook led Duke with 17 points, while freshman standout Jahlil Okafor added 16 points to eight boards and two blocks.

The Owls never let the first half get out of hand, hitting 10 field goals to Duke's 12 and hanging with the Blue Devils on the glass as well. Duke had a couple of 7-0 runs in the half, but Temple responded to both.

The second 7-0 run for the Blue Devils gave them their largest lead of 15, 32-17 with three minutes to go, but the Owls closed out the half with a 9-4 edge to get back within 10 by the break. Okafor and Justise Winslow each had eight points as Duke went into halftime up 36-26.

Seven different players scored for Temple in the opening period, led by DeCosey with six points.

Despite a strong first half defensively, it was primarily turnovers that had the Owls trailing, as their 10 miscues led to 12 points for Duke.

The Blue Devils opened up a 16-point lead early in the second half, and later went ahead by as many as 23 just past the 10-minute mark. The Owls stayed tough down the stretch, twice cutting the margin to 16, but could come no closer.

Box Score l Photo Gallery | Postgame Interviews | Temple Quotes | Duke Quotes | OwlSports Update Report (video)

NOTES:
Junior Jaylen Bond made his first appearance as an Owl after missing the opening two games with an ankle injury, and scored a putback dunk just a minute after entering the contest.

Redshirt sophomore Daniel Dingle hit Temple's only three-pointer of the contest with six minutes remaining in the first half, narrowly keeping alive a streak of now 574 consecutive games in which the Owls have hit at least one shot from long range.