Henderson has small role in Duke's win
GERALD HENDERSON knew coming into last night's game at the Wachovia Center that all 18,030 fans in attendance would focus on the hometown hero.
He was just as focused.
Focused enough not to play outside of his game and force a storybook performance in his first appearance in Philadelphia since his playing days at Episcopal Academy 2 years ago.
Focused enough to lead his ninth-ranked Blue Devils to a 74-64 win over a pesky Temple team that never died, even when all hope seemed to disappear halfway through the game.
And focused even more so on the reminder coach Mike Krzyzewski leaves in front of each players' locker before the game that teamwork requires that everyone's efforts flow in a single direction.
"The first thing was getting the win," said Henderson, who scored only five points on 2-for-7 shooting in 25 minutes.
"This team isn't about any one guy going home to play in front of his home crowd. Obviously, that was part of the situation, but I was honestly more focused on making plays on the defensive end, passing the ball and getting rebounds, which was really all it was about at the end of the game."
The Owls battled back after being down as much as 19 in the second half, mostly in part because of Dionte Christmas, who scored 15 straight points during a stretch when Duke managed only six. Temple cut the lead to as low as eight, but the Blue Devils, who hit five of 10 three-pointers in the second half, showcased their experience and regrouped with an 8-0 run.
"We had a nice talk at halftime, and we knew we wanted to come out and represent ourselves better than we did in the first half," said Christmas, who led all scorers with 23 points and seven rebounds.
"[Duke] is a team of runs. They made a good run, and we didn't answer it. We played poor transition defense and it cost us."
Down 16 at halftime, Temple still found away to keep itself in the game despite a season-low 34.5 percent from the field and missing nine free throws. The Owls also committed 20 turnovers, including 12 in the first half that led to 12 points.
"I thought we had good attempts at the rim, but against a team like Duke, you just can't give up those opportunities," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy, whose team fell to 6-7.
"Against this caliber of a team, you need to be almost flawless."
Duke (12-1) played without sophomore center Brian Zoubek, who fractured his left foot in practice Monday. The Blue Devils ran mostly a four-guard set that allowed them to create defensive mismatches for Temple. Owls freshman Lavoy Allen, a 6-9 forward, often found himself matched up against quicker players, such as DeMarcus Nelson and Taylor King, who combined for 28 points.
Mark Tyndale added 20 points for Temple, despite being in foul trouble much of the night.
After the game, Henderson, Duke's third-leading scorer, at 13.4 points per game heading into last night, said he felt good to be home, although many people, including himself, might not be pleased with his offensive outing.
"Yeah, I wasn't myself offensively, but you are going to have nights like that," he said. "Unfortunately, mine was tonight in front of all my friends and family, but it s a long season, and as long as the win is in that column, that all that really matters to me." *
