Khalif Wyatt, Temple Shock No. 3 Duke
They waited and waited, but the comeback never came. Temple took a lead over Duke midway through the first half and held it all the way to the final buzzer. Temple came up with a huge upset, shocking No. 3 Duke 78-73. It was the Owls’ first win over the Blue Devils since Jan. 25, 1996.
The Owls found themselves down five early in the first half, but they snapped out of it and fought back. By the 10 minute mark, the Owls had the lead and never looked back. They did it with defense; the Owls (10-3) had 10 steals and capitalized on 15 Blue Devil turnovers.
Khalif Wyatt led the way with a game-high 22 points, including two killer three’s in the waning minutes of the game, and three assists. He was also good defensively with five steals. Five Owls – Anthony Lee, Ramone Moore, Aaron Brown and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson – scored in double figures.
Duke’s offense came from the Plumlee brothers, Miles and Mason. They accounted for 33 of the team’s 73 points. But once Temple was able to single them out, they enjoyed success. A missed dunk from Miles with precious little time remaining seemed to confirm that an upset was going to happen.
The win is the fourth straight for Temple. They handed Duke (12-2) only its second loss of the season. Its first came Nov. 29 against Ohio State.
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