By CHRIS RUSSELL
NEW YORK — There will be a Duke reunion in tonight’s Coaches vs. Cancer championship game at Barclays Center.
No. 4 Duke, led by legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, will face Stanford, coached by Johnny Dawkins, Coach K’s former protégé.
“First of all, I’m proud of Johnny,” Coach K said after Duke beat Temple, 74-54, Friday night. “They’re an outstanding team. They’re big, they’re huge. Johnny has a really good system, how he uses them. I’d rather not play him. He’s part of our family. It’s too bad we have to play one another, that’s the way it is.”
Freshman center Jahlil Okafor, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, had 16 points and eight rebounds in Duke’s win. Quinn Cook scored 17 points to go with five rebounds and freshman wing Justise Winslow tallied 15 points.
Freshman point guard Tyus Jones controlled the tempo of the first half by breaking down Temple’s defense en route to a 36-26 halftime lead. He finished with seven assists, five points and five rebounds.
In the second half, the Blue Devils simply imposed their will on the Owls with their suffocating defense that caused 17 turnovers.
“I thought we played really good defense tonight; I mean really good defense,” Coach K said. “We did not hit shots like we normally do, so that made playing defense even better. We missed some shots and their defense is real good.”
Winslow, the projected No. 8 pick in the 2015 Draft, had another strong game as a running buddy to Okafor and Jones.
“I think we did a great job in all aspects of the game, especially defensively,” he told SNY.tv. “Tomorrow we’re going to keep attacking and [try to] get more deflections, more steals at the defensive end.”
Okafor had his most challenging game yet, shooting just 7-for-20, while adding eight rebounds and two blocks.
“[Temple] is real physical and clean,” Coach K said. “Jahlil has to be ready for that. He has to go through these things. He had 20 shots tonight, and I’d love to get him 20 shots every game.”
The Sixers are challenging the NBA record for futility and are leading the way for the rights to land the No. 1 pick in 2015. With centers Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid already on the roster, they may not want to “Lose some more for Okafor” and instead try to “Cede the day for Mudiay.”
Photo: USA Today Sports
