Temple Falls To Duke 90-67 In Battle Of Unbeatens
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Seth Curry scored 23 points, big men Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly had double-doubles and No. 2 Duke beat Temple 90-67 in a matchup of unbeatens on Saturday at the Izod Center.
Curry was 5 for 9 from 3-point range, leading Duke's 12-for-20 effort from behind the arc.
Plumlee finished with 16 points — the first time he was below 19 this season — and 14 rebounds. Kelly had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Duke (9-0) while Quinn Cook added 14 points and made three 3s.
This is the 15th time the Blue Devils have started 9-0 under coach Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in Division I history with 936 victories.
The Blue Devils have three wins this season over teams ranked in the top four: No. 3 Kentucky, No. 2 Louisville, No. 4 Ohio State.
Quenton DeCosey had 13 points for the Owls (6-1), who were looking for their best start since going 14-0 in 1987-88, a season that ended with a regional weekend loss to Duke in the Izod Center.
Duke shot 51.9 percent (14 for 27) and held the Owls to 35.9 percent (14 for 39) on the way to a 46-32 halftime lead. The Blue Devils made 12 of 16 foul shots in the opening 20 minutes while Temple didn't get to the line at all. Temple finished 1 of 4 on free throws.
Duke, which came in being outrebounded 36.2-35.2, again had trouble on the boards. The Owls grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the first half and had a 19-17 advantage overall.
The Blue Devils shot 47.5 percent for the game (28 for 59) and held the Owls to 39.7 percent (29 of 73), including 8 of 21 from 3-point range.
The Owls got within 12 points twice late, the last at 72-60 with 6:38 left on a basket by Jake O'Brien.
After a free throw by Plumlee, Curry scored the next seven points for Duke, the last a 3-pointer with 3:38 left that gave the Blue Devils their first 20-point lead, 80-60.
Duke is 20-1 at the Izod Center under Krzyzewski and the winning streak is now at 12 games. The Blue Devils are 10-0 in the NCAA tournament here, all regionals that led to Final Four berths. Their only loss in the building under Krzyzewski was 77-75 to Arizona on Feb. 28, 1989.
Duke has a record of 113-16 when it is ranked No. 2.
The game drew a crowd of 12,157.
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