Temple vs. Duke: Can Slumping Kyle Singler Open Door for Temple Upset?

As the Duke Blue Devils cut down the nets in Indianapolis last year, everyone assumed that Kyle Singler was as good as gone.

The Final Four M.O.P. outplayed everyone in the final weekend and led his team to the title.

Singler started out this season as one of the best players in the nation (on paper). He was as close to a First Team All-American as you will find, but something happened.

In a surprising turn of events, he is not the best player in the country, in his conference or even on his team.

Throughout the course of this season, Kyle has eclipsed the 30-point margin only once and has hit 15 points an unimpressive 14 times in 27 games. At times he has not only been ineffective on offense—he has been invisible. His low point of the season was against Virginia, where he hit only one field goal, scoring two points.

Tonight the Devils welcome a game opponent in the Temple Owls. Temple is the first ranked team Duke has faced since its come-from-behind win against UNC 10 days ago.

Duke will have the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor on its side, a place where it hasn’t lost a non-conference game in almost 11 years! No question Duke is awesome at home. It will have to be as it hopes to avoid being bitten by the upset bug running rampant at the top of the polls.

On the defensive side of the ball, Duke will need to slow down Temple’s leading scorer Ramone Moore. Moore has led this team in scoring several times this season, including its last four games.

The toughest matchup of the night for Duke will be against rebounding monster Lavoy Allen. Allen has officially pulled down more boards than anyone ever donning a Temple jersey and will be a difficult task for anyone Duke has down low.

If Duke is controlled in the paint (see UNC first half) and can’t hit from beyond the arc, then this one could be close. Kyle Singler will need to be physical and help the Plumlees pull the stronger rebounder away from the basket, allowing post players to box out and pull boards.

Nolan Smith doesn’t need to be spectacular; however, he will need help. If he is the only Dukie who scores more than 15, it could be a long night in Durham.

Prediction

Temple is a very tough team that coach Mike Krzyzewski scheduled to simulate a tourney type of game. Duke will start slow and maybe even be down at the half, but Coach K will corral his crew at the half and convince the Plumlees to stop fouling, box out and attack the boards.

I expect Kyle Singler to step out of his slump and score in double digits, but do more watching as Nolan Smith leads the Devils to another strong victory at home.