PHILADELPHIA -- The University of Massachusetts has lost in a variety of ways at the Liacouras Center since it opened in 1997.
There have been fantastic finishes, overtime games, even a double-overtime classic in '04. Unfortunately for the Minutemen, they have come out on the wrong end of too many of those games in a building that has wound up becoming a House of Horrors.
Yesterday UMass rallied from a 10-point deficit but couldn't hold a 3-point lead late in regulation before falling to Temple, 80-70, in OT before a spirited crowd of 6,506.
It was the 10th loss in 11 attempts in the arena for UMass, the Minutemen's lone win coming Jan. 27, 2001, a 65-64 OT victory.
"[The loss] has nothing to do with the past, that's for sure," UMass coach Travis Ford said. "It's definitely disappointing to not come out with a win."
It seemed especially disappointing considering the Minutemen's big 78-76 win over Rhode Island Thursday. But they couldn't piece together their first back-to-back wins since beating nationally-ranked Dayton and Charlotte Jan. 16 and 19.
UMass fell to 15-8, 4-5 in the Atlantic 10. Temple improved to 12-10 and 5-3 in the league.
"It's tough, man," said UMass forward Etienne Brower, who poured in a game-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. "I feel like every time we come to Temple, we can't come out with a win."
UMass trailed, 38-28, with 18:07 remaining. A few minutes later, Brower scored 10 consecutive points - two 3-pointers and two baskets - and the Minutemen went ahead, 48-46, with 10:41 left.
UMass led, 64-61, on a 3-pointer by Gary Forbes with 3:19 remaining, but that was its last field goal of regulation.
Temple's diminutive senior guard, Chris Clark, hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:12 left to tie the game at 64.
Brower had a chance to put the Minutemen back on top, but he misfired on a trey with 38 seconds to go. Temple couldn't convert on a pair of scoring chances and the game went into OT.
UMass never led in the extra session and the Owls hit 11 of 12 free throws to seal the victory.
"Give Temple credit," Ford said. "They made plays when it mattered at the end of the game."
Temple also forced Forbes, UMass's leading scorer, into a number of difficult shots. He finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists while struggling through a 5-for-19 performance from the field, including 2 of 7 from 3-point territory. Forbes didn't attempt one free throw, which is surprising considering he had been to the line 164 times in 22 previous games this season.
Ricky Harris added 14 points for UMass and Chris Lowe had 11, yet the duo shot 8 for 25.
"Gary Forbes doesn't go to the line at all [yesterday]," Ford said. "Their three-man [Mark] Tyndale goes 10 for 10. That's tough."
Ford said his team relied on Forbes too much down the stretch and didn't move the ball enough.
"I just felt like my team needed me to score," Forbes said.
Temple received 20 points from Tyndale, a career-high 20 from freshman forward Lavoy Allen, and 16 points and nine rebounds from Dionte Christmas.
Allen was a mild surprise as he hit 8 of 9 field goals and pulled down eight rebounds in his finest all-around game of the season. "He outplayed a fifth-year senior [Dante Milligan], a fourth-year junior [Tony Gaffney], and a fourth-year junior [Luke Bonner] as a freshman," Ford said.
In the end, UMass left the Liacouras Center with another frustrating loss.
"We had the game," Lowe said. "We gave it away."
