Temple upset again

The Associated Press Monty Mack hit five three-pointers and finished with 18 points as the Minutemen held the Owls to just two baskets for nearly the entire second half en route to a 57-49 upset yesterday. UMass (13-15, 9-7 Atlantic-10) matched styles with Temple, known for its own swarming zone defenses. The Minutemen, who rarely play zone, out-defensed the league's top defensive team. The Owls entered the contest holding opponents to a league-low 58 points per game. ''I guess we took a little page from their book and we tried to matchup with them,'' UMass coach Bruiser Flint said. ''The only reason I don't play much zone is because I don't think you get rebounds. ''They got 18 [offensive] rebounds today, but I can live with it.'' The Owls, who hit just two of their first 27 shots in the second half and finished just 10 percent from the floor (3-for-29), looked confused offensively on many occasions ''You can call all kinds of offensive changes and offensive sets,'' Owls coach John Chaney said. ''There's nothing you can do. When the wheels come off a car, it's more difficult to drive the car. The wheels were off.'' Chris Kirkland added 17 points for the Minutemen, while Lari Ketner had eight points and 13 rebounds. UMass plays Duquesne in the opening round of the league's tournament in Philadelphia Wednesday. Lamont Barnes had 14 points and eight rebounds to pace the Owls (19-9, 13-3), who lost for just the third time in 16 games. Temple, which finished first in the Eastern half of the league, earned a bye and will play the St. Bonaventure-Dayton winner Thursday. ''We made a mistake when we started missing shots because we lost confidence in each other,'' said Owls guard Pepe Sanchez, who was just 1-for-10 from the floor. ''It's quite obvious that when you don't shoot well, you have to give some credit to the other team,'' Chaney said.