PHILADELPHIA -- Three rickety ceiling fans slowly turned, and tattered wrestling mats were taped around poles in the middle of the room.

Tucked away in the bowels of the Palestra, beyond the pool and the men's lockers, an old practice room hosted the post-game media gathering after Penn State's Atlantic 10 semifinal loss Monday night.

An attempt at a makeover -- with a temporary public address system and blue cotton drapes -- had been made, but this room was not a conference center. It was, and always will be, a gym.

In this city, such a room -- with its hardwood floor and dirty cinder block walls -- could be the birthplace of an athletic dream. Rocky Balboa would pound the big bag and then make a run to the Art Museum. A young Wilt Chamberlain would shoot endless free throws and then retire to this room and untape his ankles.

But in this room Monday night, Penn State had to explain the death of a basketball dream.

"(UMass) outplayed us from the jump," guard Monroe Brown said. "We never did have the fire."

"Massachusetts deserved to win it," Coach Bruce Parkhill added. "The way we played, we didn't deserve to win."

Entering the tournament Parkhill, and many others, believed several teams had a shot at reaching the championship game. As well as UMass played, though, the Lions' loss can be explained with a quick look at the final statistics.

Second-seeded Penn State (21-8) turned the ball over 23 times and committed several glaring mental errors, including a costly traveling violation by guard Tony Soskich with just 20 seconds left. At the time, UMass led 62-59.

"Tony's one of our best outside shooters," said Parkhill, who inserted Soskich specifically to shoot a 3-pointer. "That's a tough situation for him to be in."

Now Penn State faces a tough situation -- that of waiting. NCAA tournament bids will be announced Sunday afternoon and the loss did not improve the Lions' chances of entering the field. Berths are based on schedule and conference strength and, of course, won-loss records. With computer analysis the selection committee also factors in the importance of victories at home and victories on the road.

Parkhill's team was 13-0 at Rec Hall this season and 5-7 on the road. Those numbers aren't too bad, but the A-10 is relatively weak this season and no team with less than 22 wins has ever represented the conference as an at-large team in the NCAA tourney.

Parkhill did not want to be the first coach answering media questions after Monday's game -- a consolation for the loser -- but did so quietly. He said Penn State belonged in the NCAA's 64-team field.

"I think we deserve to be there," he said.

Unlike Rocky and Wilt, the men's basketball team now has no control over its destiny. A return trip to the conference championship game and a berth in the NCAAs had been team goals all season. Those dreams died in Philadelphia.

Receiving an at-large berth will now be decided in a conference room hundreds of miles away. That room will likely be on the top floor of a plush hotel with air conditioning and wall-to-wall carpet.