ATLANTA — Joe Crispin said on Tuesday that his team could not be passive and needed to attack the heart of Temple's defense for Penn State to be successful.

But words and actions are two different things and just like the teams the Owls played prior to the Lions, Temple's strength on the boards and solid defense made Penn State fall victim to John Chaney's masterful defensive schemes.

"We obviously weren't able to do it," Crispin said. "We did want to get to the middle of the lane and create some things, and honestly, I didn't think we did a bad job at it. We had some looks. They just didn't go down. We didn't do as good a job moving around as I would have liked, but I thought we did OK."

In the first half, the Owls' 1-3-1 zone held Penn State's perimeter players in check. The Lions were unable to get Titus Ivory, Crispin and Jon Crispin involved in the game early. All three combined for a meager eight points in the first half.

Led by Lynn Greer, Alex Wesby and Greg Jefferson, Temple would often double-team the ball carrier, and that confused Penn State. At times, it worked to Penn State's advantage after it broke the press by finding a wide open Gyasi Cline-Heard under the basket for an easy look. Other than the success of Cline-Heard and Ivory, Temple's defense did its job early. It caused eight turnovers and didn' allow the Lion shooters to get in rhythm until late in the game.

"In looking at the other team, I knew they had guys taking long shots. Many of them are NBA shots," Chaney said. "I just didn't want our guys to get caught flying at their shooters. I kept telling them to stay down and their shots kept hitting the front of the rim. We watched that and it gave us a chance to rebound well. Kevin Lyde is a good rebounder for us. He has good hands and did a good job of rebounding their early misses, but I knew it was just a matter of time when they start hitting.

"I think we were lucky tonight. You can see what kind of team they have been this year by how well they shot in the second half."

With Temple's defense controlling the tempo of the game, Penn State's frustration started to show in its leaders. Crispin fouled out with a little more than four minutes to play in the game, and Ivory and Cline-Heard finished the game with four fouls apiece.

Although the trio did not play its best game, the three seniors did account for 50 of the Lions' 72 points.

It was the final good-bye in a Penn State uniform for the senior class that will not soon be forgotten.

"I thought the guys, especially the seniors in particular, gave us a great effort throughout the entire year, in particular the tournament and postseason play," Penn State head coach Jerry Dunn said. "I am extremely proud of them. I thought we played and lost to a very good Temple team. I thought their defense was outstanding especially in the first half."