After being tested by a physical, well-coached team Tuesday night, the Blue Devils will have to quickly get ready for another big-time Friday night battle.
No. 4 Duke will take on Temple Friday at 9:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. In their Champions Classic tilt against No. 19 Michigan State Tuesday, the Blue Devils got 17 second-half points from freshman point guard Tyus Jones to pull away and secure an 81-71 win.
"It's important for us to enjoy it in the moment and learn what we did well in that game, but also move on very quickly," assistant coach Jon Scheyer said.
Although Duke prevailed, the Spartans finally exposed some flaws the Blue Devils will look to address in their fourth game in seven days, outrebounding Duke 35-25—including 13 to five on the offensive glass.
Against an Owl squad known for its discipline and physicality led by head coach Fran Dunphy, the Blue Devils know they have to box out more consistently. In two games this season, Temple has collected 24 offensive rebounds and is already plus-22 on the boards early in the year.
"Rebounding is the thing we need to constantly work on and that's something we need to get better at," Scheyer said. "And just our defensive habits. They're not fully where they need to be yet. A lot of times the way we play defense, it might be a guard blocking out a big guy because our defense is a little unorthodox. We need everyone to be in there and we need everyone to box out."
Although the Owls specialize in rebounding and defending—holding opponents to just 36.8 percent shooting in two games—their offense will have to be much more efficient than it has been to stay with a Duke squad that has shot 60.2 percent and averaged 101.0 points through three games.
Temple has just 17 assists in two games, compared to 29 turnovers, and is shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 29.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils have locked up opposing perimeter shooters—holding opponents to 8-of-46 shooting from 3-point range—thanks in part to their full-court man-to-man pressure defense, and will likely try to force the Owls into more errors on a big stage Friday night.
Despite its anemic offensive showing so far this season, Temple has two players capable of catching fire to ignite the team's offense—guards Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey.
Last year, the duo combined to average 32.2 points per game and knocked down 80 triples on the season. After the Owls' ugly 40-37 season-opening win against American last Friday, Cummings and DeCosey each had 20 points to lead Temple past Louisiana Tech 82-75 Monday evening.
Although capable outside shooters, the backcourt tandem excels in attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line. In Monday's game, both players combined for 26 free throw attempts.
The Owls shot 49 free throws as a team against the Bulldogs, so defending without fouling will be another area of focus for Duke.
"They have a bunch of guys that can put the ball on the floor and take you off the bounce, so we need to a great job playing great team defense," Scheyer said. "Keeping them out of the paint and off the line is a big thing for us. They have a bunch of guys at a bunch of different positions. [Everyone] needs to be ready."
The Blue Devils dealt with serious foul trouble for the first time Tuesday when dominant freshman center Jahlil Okafor picked up his fourth foul with more than eight minutes left in the game. Fellow freshmen Jones and Justise Winslow carried Duke down the stretch, but the Blue Devils can't make a habit of getting too aggressive on either end of the court.
Although the backcourt battle looks fairly even between the two teams, the biggest question entering the contest is how Temple will defend Okafor. Its starting frontcourt of Mark Williams and Devontae Wilson does not have the size to defend the Chicago native—neither player weights more than 240 pounds—which should force double-teams that could open up the court for Duke's offense.
As they did Tuesday when Okafor turned four quick touches into eight early points, the Blue Devils will look to establish their best weapon early and often, then adjust as the Owls show their cards.
But Duke has also shown it can execute with its most skilled player out of the game and will look to continue operating efficiently to set up a Saturday showdown with either Stanford or UNLV in the title game with a victory Friday night.
"Jahlil is always going to be a big part of what we're doing offensively," Scheyer said. "But really, we would like to think that we're prepared for however a team will play him. If he doesn't have it, we need to make strong drives. We have enough firepower out on the court where we should get a good shot every time down."
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