Somewhere, John Chaney is wincing. Temple and Duquesne combined for 54 turnovers in the Dukes' 96-92 win in Pittsburgh. The teams did combine to shoot nearly 54 percent from the field.

Temple (7-12, 1-5 A-10) led 68-56 with 12 minutes left, but could not keep up the pace against the Dukes all-out press. The Owls (28 turnovers) have lost eight of nine and find themselves fighting to stay out of the conference basement. Teams finishing 13th and 14th do not make the trip to Atlantic City for the conference tournament.

The Owls gave up a 19-point lead in Wednesday's loss to Penn at the Palestra. They have some really good players, including Dionte Christmas (30 points) and Mark Tyndale (27 points). They simply do not have enough of them. Thus, it is difficult to sustain their game for 40 minutes.

Duquesne (7-11, 3-4) may be the season's most amazing story. The Dukes were 3-24 last season, and five players were shot before this season. And they just started pressing for 40 minutes last week.

Fordham can't lose

Fordham had lost 34 consecutive games in Philadelphia until beating Temple in Chaney's final home game last season. After winning at La Salle, 62-54, the Rams, who beat Penn in December, have won three straight in the city.

La Salle (9-12, 2-5 A-10) shot just 33.3 percent but hung around because it crushed the Rams on the glass, 46-26. La Salle's leading scorer, Darnell Harris, was just 1-for-8 before leaving with an ankle injury in the second half.

Fordham (12-7, 5-2) didn't dazzle on offense, but made just enough shots at the right time to get itself to 3-0 against the Big 5 this season. The Rams beat St. Joe's in New York on Jan. 17.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Efficient Panthers

Pittsburgh, which is at the Wachovia Center tonight to play Villanova, gave a near-perfect demonstration of what it does best against St. John's. The Panthers had 23 assists on 31 field goals and committed just seven turnovers while allowing the Red Storm to make just 17 field goals and fouling so little that St. John's shot only eight free throws.

Home sweet home

Air Force has won 27 straight at home. BYU has now won 27 straight at home after beating Air Force.

A very sharp observer told me not to be overly concerned if Air Force loses a few in the Mountain West, saying those teams are very familiar with the Falcons' unusual style. When they get into the NCAA, he said, they would be a very tough out.

Home blowout

Arizona had never lost a home game by more than 12 points in Lute Olson's tenure until North Carolina got the Wildcats by 28. Arizona has only lost one game anywhere by more than 28 under Olson. 'Zona was 1-for-23 from the arc against UNC and had as many turnovers (20) as field goals.

Shoot 'em up

Oregon and Washington State combined to shoot 23-for-54 from the arc.

UConn to NIT?

Connecticut is 13-0 against teams without much pedigree and 0-7 against those teams with reasonable pedigrees. The Huskies lost, 84-72, to Providence in Hartford. The Friars scored the first 16 points of the second half, shot 63 percent in the half, and outscored UConn, 50-27, in the final 20 minutes.