by John Di Carlo

In the span of a little more than two hours Friday afternoon, all of Temple's worst fears were realized. Cornell, the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament's East Regional, became one of the popular upset picks when it was matched up against the 5th-seeded Owls, and now we know why. A fresh, crisp and confident Big Red team defended well first and then shot the lights out later en route to pinning a very convincing 78-65 defeat on the Owls at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Friday afternoon. Temple (29-6) lost to the three-time Ivy League champions despite shooting 51.9 percent, marking the Owls' first loss this season when shooting better than 40 percent. Temple has now lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons. [details]