Owls clipped at Duke

Duke 78, Temple 61

Two straight dunks from Mason Plumlee nearly blew the roof off Cameron Indoor Stadium. They also blew any chance Temple had of upsetting Duke.

The Owls (21-6) just ran out of gas in the second half, falling victim to a steady diet of Plumlee (13 rebounds) and Kyle Singler (28 points, six rebounds) inside, with Nolan Smith and Seth Curry — the silky smooth duo combined for six 3-pointers — ruling on the perimeter.

With their top guns clicking, the top-ranked Blue Devils (25-2) raced out to a 16-point lead with about 11 minutes left, and No. 24 Temple couldn’t muster a comeback.

Lavoy Allen (17 points) and Rahlir Jefferson (11) paced the Owls, who lost for the first time since Jan. 22 — a string of eight straight victories.

Temple kept the home crowd quiet early on as Fran Dunphy’s defensive-minded squad made Duke play in the halfcourt. The Owls held the Blue Devils to 37 percent shooting in the first half, while forcing seven turnovers.

Temple, of course, was playing without two of its top scorers. Michael Eric is out for the season and Scootie Randall’s status is uncertain the rest of the way as he deals with a foot injury.