"Then on the defensive end, I think we needed to really pay attention to detail a little bit more than we did."
Some might point to Temple's playing without center Micheal Eric (broken right kneecap) and swingman Scootie Randall (right foot injury) as a factor in the lopsided loss. But the Owls (21-6) managed to destroy the Hawks without the two starters.
It can be argued that they probably wouldn't have made much of a difference against the fired-up Blue Devils (26-2), who broke the game open with a 7-2 run to start the second half. That turned a 31-24 halftime cushion into double-digit lead that Duke never surrendered.
"They got a lot of run-outs," Owls power forward Lavoy Allen said of the Blue Devils, who shot 54.8 percent after intermission. "When they run out the ball, they get open three-pointers. A couple of times, we stopped their runs. But our runs weren't as big as theirs. And the lead just continued to grow."
Duke led by as many as 19 points on four occasions.
Temple had its eight-game winning streak snapped. The Owls also dropped to 2-14 all-time in games against No.1-ranked teams.
Temple's last victory over a top-ranked squad came on Feb. 20, 2000, at Cincinnati. Since then, the Owls have lost six straight meetings against top-ranked teams.
Duke (26-2) holds an 18-9 series advantage against Temple. The Blue Devils are 8-1 against the Owls at Cameron. Wednesday night marked Temple's eighth consecutive setback on Duke's home court.
The Blue Devils extended the nation's longest active home winning streak to 35 games. They also have won an NCAA-best 86 straight nonconference games at Cameron. And this was Duke's 41st consecutive win against a team outside the traditional power conferences.
Kyle Singler had a lot to do with the Blue Devils' latest victory.
The 6-foot-8 senior forward finished with a game-high 28 points to go with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
