Temple stuns Duke

THE ONLY WAY this could possibly have been any better is if it had happened in late March, or maybe even early April.

Simply put, last night's win probably was Temple's biggest since John Chaney was making the last of his five Final Eight runs in 2001.

Each of the last three seasons, Fran Dunphy's Owls had beaten a Top 10 team - (in order) No. 8 Tennessee, No. 3 Villanova and No. 9 Georgetown - at the Liacouras Center. But what went down last night at a sold-out Wells Fargo Center felt different. Because it was Duke, which was ranked fifth. The same Blue Devils who had beaten Temple so many times in the last 2 decades-plus under Mike Krzyzewski.

But not this time. Not even with Temple, which had struggled to win its last two games against Buffalo and Delaware, missing two starters, including its top big man.

None of that mattered. Or could prevent Temple from getting it done, 78-73.

"It means a lot," said senior guard Ramone Moore, who scored 11 points. "It's just something we believed in, that we could do. I'm not sure many people felt the same way. We wanted to play a big game. I felt like we did that.

"There's no [injury] excuses. It's something we have to deal with. When we play the way [coach wants], we can beat those guys. We showed the way we can play.

"I don't think it's hit me yet. It's just a great feeling."

The Owls, who took the subway to South Philly from their campus, never trailed after the opening 10 1/2 minutes. With 9 1/2 minutes to go, they opened up a 10-point lead. But Duke (12-2) had cut it to three by the 5:05 mark. Then Khalif Wyatt, who might not be playing as much if Scootie Randall wasn't still recovering from offseason knee surgery, nailed back-to-back three-pointers that gave his team the working room it needed. The Blue Devils got it to five with a little less than 30 seconds showing, on a banked trey from straightaway.

"You see that and think maybe it wasn't meant to be," Dunphy said. But it was, as the Owls hit three of four free throws the rest of the way to Duke's two missed foul shots and a triple at the buzzer.

"They just outplayed us," said Krzyzewski, who had lost to the Owls only once, 16 years ago this month at the Spectrum. "Their kids know how to play. It's typical [of them]. They have one of the best coaches in the United States. We obviously didn't play very well. For some reason we didn't show up with enough enthusiasm and toughness. I'm disappointed, but it's more on [Temple] playing well. We saw what we expected to see. They know who they are.

"We weren't playing a team tonight. It's a program. They've always had a program. We played a tradition here. They get kids who believe they can win, and they do win. Dunph has continued to do that . . . We'll take a very bitter loss out of this. If I'd seen it coming, I would have faked an illness. Instead I got ill during the game."

At times the Owls (10-3), who open their Atlantic 10 season Saturday against visiting Dayton, played four guards. But Duke couldn't take full advantage of all the mismatches inside. As Coach K said, Temple had something to do with that. Or even a lot. And along the perimeter, it sure seemed like the Owls had the better of it, which shouldn't come as any great surprise.

"Coach Dunphy emphasized managing the game," said Wyatt, who finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting. "We tried to keep it at our own pace as much as we could. Every time we needed a stop, it seemed like we got one."

The same could be said about the other end.

"Every night, [the ball's] not going to go in," said Wyatt. "My teammates trust me to make [shots]. I tried to come through. I know I can shoot from deep. I just shot it. We're unselfish [perimeter] guys. Whoever's got it going, we're going to try and feed them. It starts with us. We're just jelling right now."

"He has no fear," Dunphy said. "He has huge courage. I think that's what you need in a game like this."

The Owls somehow had three more rebounds (32) and one more turnover (17). They also matched Duke with 42 points in the paint, and had 14 more off the break (20). The Devils had 13 more on second chances, but they never dominated around the basket the way their size might have indicated. Temple also shot 56 percent (31-for-55), against an opponent that had been holding teams to 43.

The Owls did a number on Duke's leading scorers, holding guards Austin Rivers to 12 points (three below his average) on 3-for-11 shooting, and Seth Curry to six points (seven below his average). Miles Plumlee scored 17 in only 19 minutes off the bench. His younger brother Mason had 16 in 32, to go with 13 boards. Both are 6-10. Redshirt freshman Anthony Lee, at 6-9, is the only Temple player taller than 6-6. And he's mostly playing a lot because Micheal Eric is still recovering from a knee injury. But Lee more than held his own, with 11 points (5-for-10), seven rebounds and three blocks in 29 minutes. And the 6-6 Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson did his part and then some, with 17 points and six boards in 36.

"They're asked to do a lot," Moore said. "We try to help them as much as we can, but those two guys are big keys for us."

If only these Owls were whole.

"I feel for [Randall and Eric]," said Dunphy, who beat Krzyzewski, his good friend from their Army days, for the first time in five tries since 2005 (one when we was still at Penn). "They shared in this, but it would be great if they were healthy. The shelf life [of a college athlete] is very, very short."

And opportunities like this only come around so often.

"The quality and the success of the Duke program, and what Mike has done . . . " Dunphy said. "It's an incredible basketball program. And for us to come out on top tonight is very, very nice for a lot of people. There are a lot of Temple folks and Philadelphians and certainly our team and our program. We're thrilled to be standing here as winners.

"There's only one way we could win a game like this. Unless everyone was together, we couldn't."

Now, about taking the train to the office.

"We did that the last time we played [here, 4 years ago against Duke]. And the reason why we do it is because that's Temple. Over the course of Temple's lifetime, people would ride the subway to school, go to class, get back on the subway, go to their part-time jobs in order to afford the education, and then go home. For us, it's kind of a tribute to all those Temple people that have done that for so many years. That's who we are, and we just wanted to let everybody know that we appreciate what Temple University is all about."

Nobody had to remind Coach K.