PHILADELPHIA — In the Blue Devils’ second road game of the season they fell for a second time, where thousands of Philadelphians watched their neighborhood Temple squad upset No. 5 Duke 78-73 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Although there were many Duke fans present, they idly sat and watched as a sea of red rushed the court once the final buzzer rang. Their Blue Devil squad lacked the composure usually associated with a top-five ranking. The Owls, on the other hand, played with a level of poise and tenacity that gave them a historic win, giving them a fourth straight season with a win over a top-10 team.
The dagger that led to Duke’s demise seemed to be its vulnerability to the trio of Temple guards—Khalif Wyatt, Juan Fernandez and Ramone Moore. This combination led the Owls to one of their best offensive performances of the season. Their main advantage was their size—each is listed as 6-4, compared to Blue Devil starters Tyler Thorton and Seth Curry, who are 6-1 and 6-2, respectively. Temple capitalized on these height differentials by relying predominantly on mid and long-range jumpers, which they were hitting with upset-worthy accuracy. Wyatt and Moore scored almost effortlessly, while Fernandez contributed six assists.
On the night, the Owls shot 31-of-55 from the field, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range. This 56.4-percent field goal rate was a significant improvement from their season average of 44.6 percent. Wyatt, in particular, had a strong showing down the stretch to ensure his team’s victory, going 5-of-6 from the field for 15 points in the second half.
“They played with great toughness. They made big shots. They outplayed us,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “For some reason, we didn’t show up with the enthusiasm and toughness we needed. I’m disappointed in our performance.”
The Blue Devils guards were unable to guide the offense as they usually do, struggling with the size of their counterparts on the Owls’ squad. Both Austin Rivers and Curry—Duke’s two most reliable scorers—were unable to find any sustainable rhythm, shooting a combined 5-of-16 from the field. Each was also responsible for a slew of careless mistakes—from missed passes to sloppy dribbling—that led to eight combined turnovers.
“We were slow, and they played a lot harder than we did,” Rivers said. “Every 50-50 ball, they got them. They just outhustled us. We have a great team, but we just didn’t fight tonight.”
The only members of Duke’s team to perform were its frontcourt players, specifically the Plumlee brothers, who overwhelmed the undersized Owls’ interior presence. Temple is currently missing its starting center, 6-foot-11 Micheal Eric, who averaged a double-double in his first four games this season but has been out since then with a knee injury.
Consequently, the Plumlees took advantage of their height differential against Eric’s replacements, standing 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-6, easily grabbing rebounds and taking high percentage, short-range jumpers. Miles, in particular, was instrumental in keeping the Blue Devils competitive early in the game when the Owls went on their initial run. He scored 12 of Duke’s first 19 points, and was the only reason the Blue Devils maintained a manageable two-point deficit going into halftime.
Mason, on the other hand, made his mark later in the game. He was the predominant force behind Duke’s second-half comeback attempt, scoring 11 points and grabbing 7 offensive rebounds late in the game to keep the Blue Devils hopeful.
“The Plumlee brothers were a handful. They were terrific inside…a little bit too much for us on a 40-minute game basis,” Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said.
Despite Mason’s strong performance, in which he grabbed 13 rebounds, he was the only Duke player to grab more than four boards, so not even his efforts could carry Duke to victory. In what even Krzyzewski described as a “bitter loss,” the Blue Devils learned that they have plenty to work on before they begin a tough ACC schedule.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.