No. 6 George Washington Falls to Temple

CINCINNATI — Temple’s stingy defense got back to what it does best -- breaking down opponents and creating havoc in tournament brackets.

The Owls’ zone defense stopped George Washington’s offense Thursday, setting up a 68-53 victory over the sixth-ranked Colonials in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals.

The Colonials (26-2) never figured they’d be done so soon. George Washington entered the game as the only one-loss team in Division I, riding an 18-game winning streak.

Against Temple, those lofty numbers became a burden. And the loss could cost them a high NCAA seeding.

“Temple played a fantastic game,” George Washington Coach Karl Hobbs said.

Temple (17-13) will play St. Joseph’s in the semifinals today. The teams split their season series. Antywane Robinson led Temple with 19 points. Carl Elliott led the Colonials with 18 points.