They spoke briefly. Neither wanted the matchup.
Temple and Cornell had never met, and after the Big Red completed a 78-65 victory, it was Dunphy who began walking first to congratulate his longtime friend.
Dunphy, 61, did all the talking as the 47-year-old Donahue mostly nodded his head.
"I can't say enough about Fran Dunphy," Donahue said after the game. "I am torn right now with that feeling in my stomach. I just respect the heck out of him."
It was the Cornell coach's first win over his former boss in 13 tries, dating back to Dunphy's days at Penn when the two sat on opposite benches twice each Ivy League season for six years.
Yesterday, the Big Red went ahead, 10-9, less than five minutes into the game, and never trailed the rest of the way. It was a complete victory for the Big Red, who outrebounded the Owls, 30-20; burned the nationally ranked Temple defense for 56.3-percent shooting; and connected on 15 of 19 free throws.
"I give great, great credit to Cornell," Dunphy said. "They deserved to win the game. They were very, very well-coached. I thought they were good all year long. They were great today."
Dunphy followed Donahue on the podium for the postgame interviews, and they embraced for several seconds after the Cornell coach stepped down. Once again, Dunphy did most of the talking.
"He hammered me pretty good during our years competing as Penn and Cornell," Donahue said as he tried to control his emotions. "He comes up to me and he's sincere, as he was today. He used to tell me I do a tremendous job, and that my team is always ready, and that he was lucky to win. And to get his approval like that means the world to me.
"I did my best not to look down at the sideline, and to not think about him today. My heart is broken because he's in pain today, and I know how it feels. Even then, he was classy gentleman."
Contact staff writer Kevin Tatum at 215-854-2583 or ktatum@phillynews.com.
