PHILADELPHIA - Duke's win might not have been pretty, but it was one for the record books.
In front of a pro-Temple crowd Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center, the No. 9 Blue Devils defeated the Owls 74-64 and gave head coach Mike Krzyzewski his 787th victory, which moved him ahead of Lefty Driesell for sixth place on the NCAA's all-time win list.
"It's not a race I'm running," Krzyzewski said of the milestone. "That's not my goal in coaching."
The goal, he said, is winning-but Duke (12-1) did not play as if it had that in mind to open the game. The Blue Devils came out rough around the edges on offense, mustering a mere 18 points for a two-point lead with eight minutes left. Then, Taylor King drained a 3-pointer, sparking an 18-7 run to close out the half.
In that stretch, the Blue Devils played solid defense, swarming the passing lanes, picking off passes which led to easy layups and holding the Owls (6-7) to 25.9 percent from the field in the first half.
But just when the game appeared to be out of reach, Temple put together a run of its own. Trailing by 19 four minutes into the second period, the Owls went on an 14-6 run-with guard Dionte Christmas scoring all 14 points-to pull within 10 by the eight-minute mark. And as Temple gained energy, so did the fans in the Wachovia Center.
"It doesn't happen to you very often," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Temple's run. "What happened to us in those eight minutes can happen to any team. They play good defense, the crowd's into it, you just can't seem to hit a basket-it's a combination and all of a sudden, you're wondering if you're going to score."
Taylor King led the Blue Devils with 15 points-including three 3-pointers in the second half that kept Temple from getting any closer. The Duke scoring attack was balanced, however, with four players putting up double figures. The Blue Devils were forced to spread the floor to compensate for the absences of big men Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas, who were both sidelined due to physical ailments.
"Our freshman class played really well tonight," Krzyzewski said. "Taylor King gave us a huge lift, and I thought Nolan Smith looked like a mature basketball player out on the court."
Duke's 74 points comprised its second-lowest total of the season. The team scored 64 points in its only loss to Pittsburgh. For the game, the Blue Devils shot 21-of-55 from the field and went an impressive 24-of-29 from the free-throw line.
As has been the case all season, though, Duke's real strength came on the defensive side of the court. The Blue Devils held Temple to a meager 25.9 percent shooting clip in the first half and 34.5 percent for the night. In that opening period, Duke forced 12 turnovers while allowing only seven made field goals. The team also racked up 10 steals in the game, led by Smith's three.
And even though Temple rallied, Owls coach Fran Dunphy knew it was probably too little, too late.
"You can't be down by 16 at the end of the half, make your run and expect to be where you need to be," Dunphy said. "Against a caliber of this team, you need to be almost flawless."
Duke begins conference play Sunday against Virginia at Cameron Indoor Stadium and has one non-conference game left against St. John's.
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