ATLANTA — It was Temple basketball at its finest.

Playing tenacious defense, stretching Penn State's offense, diving after loose balls and forcing the Nittany Lions to take bad shots all enabled the Owls to advance to the Elite Eight with an 84-72 win against Penn State Friday night.

"They did a good job of forcing us out," Penn State guard Joe Crispin said. "We had planned on that, but we did get some good looks, but didn't do as good of a job at knocking them down. I know I had a few and Jon (Crispin) had a few we definitely would have liked to make, but that's what they force you to do. That's what they bank on and unfortunately we couldn't get it going early enough."

The win earned Temple a trip back to the Elite Eight, which marked the fifth time it has done so under Owls head coach John Chaney. The Owls went on to fall to Michigan State yesterday in the South regional final 69-62.

It also put an end to the Lions' Cinderella season, which included wins against Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan State and North Carolina. Those victories proved Penn State was a legitimate threat in the NCAA this season.

In the first half, the Lions fell behind early. Temple role players Greg Jefferson and Alex Wesby — not typically known as go-to-players — stepped up for the Owls, grabbing rebounds and knocking down shot after shot.

Crispin, who drew his third foul with less than one second left in the first half, struggled all evening to get anything going, while Wesby and Jefferson combined for 15 points and nine rebounds and took the Owls into halftime with a 39-21 lead.

Unlike many of Penn State's games this season, where the Lions were very much in the game when they went into halftime, the 18-point deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

"I thought their defense was outstanding, especially in the first half," Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn said.

Early on in the second half, the Lions' struggles continued, while Temple added to its first half lead. In the Owls second possession in the second half, Wesby again hurt Penn State as he sprung open on a loose ball and scored on an easy lay-up. Temple guard Quincy Wadley followed that up with a three-pointer of his own and the Owls built their lead to as much as 23 points.

Despite chipping the lead to come within 10 late in the game, Temple would not allow a Lion comeback.

All evening, the Owls forced Penn State into unfamiliar situations.

The more than 1,200 Penn State fans who made the trip to Atlanta were practically silent with 4:33 left in the game, when Crispin drew his fifth. Despite struggling all night, Crispin left the court for the final time in a Penn State uniform with just 12 points.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Crispin said. "I am normally more disciplined with my fouls. It was something I could have never imagined."

Titus Ivory, also playing in his last game for Penn State, led the team with 20 points.

"It definitely does hurt to lose a game like that, but it's been a great ride for myself and the seniors," he said. "We didn't get what we wanted to accomplish, but at the same time we accomplished more than we were supposed to. We gave it our best effort."