Blue Moon, now I'm no longer alone
I have a dream in my heart
I have a love of my own
-- "Blue Moon," by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Greetings from the Wachovia Center, where some computer problems prevented me from getting this post up before tipoff. But better late than never.
I figured there would be a lot of Duke fans here tonight, but I didn't expect there to be quite as many as there turned out to be, mainly because it's a midweek game instead of on a weekend. I'd say the crowd is at least 3-to-1 blue over cherry in terms of attire, though it might be more favorable to Temple in terms of decibel level.
If nothing else, the crowd is at least in the 14-15,000 range, which is way bigger than the last time I was down here for a game televised on ESPN. The lower bowl is totally full and the upper bowl is full along the sidelines but not the ends.
We'll never know just how many of them have a tangible link to the school, but with Gerald Henderson and Brian Zoubek in town (though the latter is injured) in town, it's not so hard to claim one.
Ed Stefanski and Dave Wohl are here, which makes me wonder just whose home game this is anyway. Billy King, the Duke alumnus and former 76ers GM, is here too. Stefanski and King here at the same time... hmm.
(Wohl, for those of you who don't know, was Steve Bilsky's backcourt mate during Penn's early 1970s dynasty. He's now an assistant coach for the Celtics. Stefanski came to 33rd Street later in the decade.)
Duke started Kyle Singler, DeMarcus Nelson, David McClure, and Gerald Henderson. Henderson was introduced second and got a big ovation, but Kyle Singler might have tied him.
Temple started Mark Tyndale, Lavoy Allen, Sergio Olmos, Luis Guzman and Dionte Christmas.
Henderson scored the game's first basket at 18:34, an acrobatic reverse layup after driving from the right baseline to the other side of the basket.
Temple didn't score until Dionte Christmas hit a free throw with 15:48 on the clock. The Temple fans had all been standing in anticipation of the Owls' first points, and looked pretty confused when some people started sitting down after the free throw. You Temple fans out there can tell me whether the rule pertains to field goals or points in general.
The Owls had a 3-2 lead after Lavoy Allen drove to the basket for a tough layup and was fouled by Jon Scheyer, but a Greg Paulus three gave Duke the lead back. Temple got it to 6-5 in its favor and has trailed ever since.
Right now, there are seven minutes left in the first half and Duke is up 23-16.
Come back later for postgame press conference audio and whatever else is worth noting.
UPDATE: It's 39-23 Duke at the half. DeMarcus Nelson has eight and Greg Paulus has nine for the Blue Devils, while Gerald Henderson just has the two he scored on the opening basket. Mark Tyndale and Ryan Brooks lead Temple with seven each.
Duke shot 13-for-30 from the field, including 3-for-11 from three-point range, and 10-for-13 from the arc. Six offensive rebounds 17 defensive rebounds, 10 fouls committed, seven assists, seven turnovers, one block and six steals.
That comes to 37 possessions and 1.049 points per possession.
Temple shot 7-for-27 from the field including 3-for-15 from beyond the arc, and 6-for-10 from the line. Seven offensive rebounds, 13 defensive rebounds, 13 fouls committed, six assists, 12 turnovers, four assists and five steals.
That also comes to 37 possessions, but only 0.626 points per possession.
Marco Anskis of Storming the Floor is sitting right behind me, and remarked that he's very impressed with Duke's defense. I'm not surprised at all; as I said on this week's College HoopsCast, defense has traditionally been the Blue Devils' calling card and it is even more so this season. Duke is seventh in the country in defensive efficiency this season.
(The six teams above them might surprise you somewhat. Or maybe not.)
