Hot-shooting Duke blows by Temple

PHILADELPHIA - Following Temple's most humbling loss in three seasons, an uncharacteristically mellow John Chaney entered the media room in the First Union Center Saturday night lacking his typical fire, ear-to-ear grin and menacing aura of intimidation. Only 20 days into the Owls' season, a two-hour bloodbath had stripped Chaney of everything that 19 years at the program's helm had made his trademark. Minutes after a school record-tying 17 three-pointers helped No. 1 Duke (7-0) bury the 17th-ranked Owls (4-3) 93-68, Chaney offered no reason for the dramatic disparity between Saturday's blowout and the previous week's nailbiter in Madison Square Garden. He shared no criticism of his team, nor did he make any excuses. He simply made one request. "I just don't want to see Duke anymore," the Temple coach said. "I wouldn't mind seeing anybody else." The top-ranked Blue Devils rode Jason Williams' career-high 30 points and a frightening clip of 56.7 percent from three-point range to their second victory in eight days over Temple. Unlike Duke's thrilling come-from-behind win over Temple last week, Saturday's contest was never close as the Owls suffered an arena-emptying rout in front of the largest men's college basketball crowd in Pennsylvania history. Duke withstood sloppy play early, including nine turnovers in the opening 13 minutes, to grasp its first double-digit lead of the game when Carlos Boozer crashed through the lane to score his first points with 7:19 remaining in the first half. Boozer's powerful drive marked the first points scored inside the three-point arc by the Blue Devils, and it pushed their advantage to 26-15. The Blue Devils did not look back, regaining their composure on offense to turn the ball over seven times the rest of the night and maintaining a double-digit edge that reached as high as 29. "You need preparation time; we had it, they didn't," Krzyzweski said, contrasting the three days of rest his team had since Tuesday's victory over Illinois with the one day off Temple had since its loss to Miami (Ohio) Thursday night. "We might have still won the game, but not by this margin." Chaney, on the other hand, felt this was nothing out of the ordinary and that his Owls had been "very fortunate" to keep the first meeting close in New York. "I've never seen a team as good as this team," Chaney said of Duke. "They have mix-and-match parts; they have ideal parts. I would love to be able to coach that team. I felt like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; every time I looked up, someone was shooting." Chaney's witty analogy was a fitting description for an evening that saw the Blue Devils launch 30 three-pointers, exactly three-fifths of all the field goals they attempted. Freshman Andre Sweet tied the program's school record-17-with his successful bomb from long range on a clean look from the left corner with 53 seconds left. Still, while it was the barrage of treys that made Saturday a unique offensive performance by Duke, it was the team's stifling defense that flustered and frustrated a Temple team now riding a three-game losing streak for the first time since Dec. 1998. Owning a distinct size advantage, the Owls never managed to ignite their two big men, forward Kevin Lyde and center Ronald Rollerson. Rollerson and Lyde, who when matched up against Boozer and Shane Battier each faced significantly smaller opponents, only attempted 10 total shots in the entire game. Chaney attributed their ineffectiveness to the fact that each big man neutralized the other by restricting movement inside and allowing the opposing guards to double-down with ease on the more dominant big man. Whether or not the twin-towers attack is "dead," as Chaney claimed, much of the credit for the struggles of Rollerson and Lyde can be attributed to freshman defensive stalwart Chris Duhon. Duhon prevented Temple from ever setting up its normally methodical, precise offense by harrassing point guard Lynn Greer, who turned in his worst performance of the season on 6-for-23 shooting with four turnovers. Through Temple's first six games, Greer had played all 240 minutes, led his team in scoring in every game except its season opener and turned the ball over a mere 10 times. "Chris had a great floor game and he loves to pass," Krzyzewski said of Duhon, who equalled Temple's team total with 12 assists. "He got a lot confidence from the way he was defending Greer." The Owls only committed 13 turnovers, but Duke's pressure in the backcourt and constant movement from player to player disrupted Temple all night long. After controlling the tempo of the first matchup, Temple found itself running up and down the court in a shootout-style game that decidedly favored the Blue Devils. "They play excellent defense and they make you keep changing offenses," Chaney said. "They shut down everything. Mike [Krzyzewski] and I have talked many times, and he has, in my opinion, the best team he has ever had." Krzyzewski was quick to dismiss that claim, noting a handful of seasons he coached stronger teams. "No, this is not the best team we have ever had," Krzyzewski said. "This team is still very much a developing team." That the team Chaney does not want to see again anytime soon is "developing" is most certainly not what relative lightweights Davidson and Michigan want to hear entering their games at Cameron Indoor Stadium this week.