Owls

Excerpted from late editions of yesterday's Globe. Andre Previn is back on the podium of the Boston Symphony Orchestra this week. He looked rather frail Thursday night in Symphony Hall, leading the BSO in a somewhat sleepy rendition of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony and in the world premiere of his own work "Owls. " Between the two, soloist Gil Shaham injected some life into the evening with a tart and sharply etched account of Stravinsky's Violin Concerto. As with most of his music, "Owls" is easily accessible, openly lyrical.

The Temple Owls set their standards very high for this NCAA tournament. And yet again, they head home early. The Owls' offense dried up Friday night, and they wound up with their worst shooting performance this season in a 58-44 loss to 12th-seeded South Florida in the Midwest Regional. This isn't what the Atlantic 10 regular season champs expected. With two seniors in Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez, and center Micheal Eric already a graduate, the Owls had set their sights on at least reaching the regional semifinals for the first time since 2001.

ATLANTIC CITY - Like a couple of heavyweight fighters who have been on stage in this building many times in its 83-year history, Temple and the University of Massachusetts slugged it out in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at Boardwalk Hall Friday afternoon. Decision: UMass via TKO. Simply put, the 77-71 victory was arguably one of the biggest of coach Derek Kellogg's four-year tenure with the Minutemen. Kellogg never lost an A-10 tourney game as a player for UMass from 1992-95.

Temple knows its seed and site. The Owls are just waiting for an opponent in the NCAA tournament. Temple (24-7) earned a No. 5 seed in the tournament and will play the winner of the play-in game Wednesday between No. 12 seeds California (24-9) and South Florida (20-13) in the Midwest Region. The Owls will open the tournament Friday in Nashville, Tenn. Led by coach Fran Dunphy, Temple won the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship and is in the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight season.

California scored three runs on three errors in the eighth inning and eliminated Rice, the No. 8 national seed, with a 6-3 victory in the Houston Regional on Sunday. California (33-21) moved on to face Baylor in the regional championship round. After a lightning delay of 2 hours, 43 minutes in the middle of the eighth, Cal loaded the bases on two errors. With two outs, two runs scored on an error by second baseman Michael Ratterree, and Tony Renda added an RBI single to make it 6-3. The Owls (42-21)

Friends of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy gathered twice over the last two weeks to promote a fund drive that added $500,000 to its coffers. Business leaders and foundation heads received copious praise from the likes of Mayor Thomas Menino. But somewhere in the crowd was an anonymous woman from the suburbs who gave more than three times as much - $1.6 million - and earmarked it for a special purpose: Creating a brilliant new carousel featuring kid-friendly versions of New England animals like barn owls, skunks, cod, whales, harbor seals, and lobsters.

Bernard Pierce made Temple coach Steve Addazio a winner in his debut, rushing for 147 yards and three touchdowns in the Owls' 42-7 win over Villanova on Thursday night. The Owls won the Mayor's Cup — presented to the winner of this city series — in front of 32,638 fans at Lincoln Financial Field. Addazio inherited a Temple program in solid shape after former coach Al Golden left for Miami. Golden took the Owls from a winless season to a bowl game, and posted consecutive winning seasons.

Keith Wright scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Harvard over Florida Atlantic 63-51 on Thursday night. Wright was 6 of 7 from the field, in leading the Crimson (10-1) to 55.3 percent shooting (21 of 38). Harvard trailed 45-43 and outscored the Owls 16-2 over the next 7:29. Brandyn Curry's free throws gave the Crimson a 59-47 lead. Curry added 12 points and seven assists for Harvard, which finished with 15. The Owls (4-8) managed just five assists, while turning it over 12 times.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Keith Wright scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Harvard over Florida Atlantic 63-51 on Thursday night. Wright was 6 of 7 from the field, in leading the Crimson (10-1) to 55.3 percent shooting (21 of 38). Harvard trailed 45-43 and outscored the Owls 16-2 over the next 7:29. Brandyn Curry's free throws gave the Crimson a 59-47 lead. Curry added 12 points and seven assists for Harvard, which finished with 15. The Owls (4-8) managed just five assists, while turning it over 12 times.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Jesse Morgan scored 21 points and Chaz Williams had 20 to lead Massachusetts to a 77-71 win over No. 21 Temple on Friday, advancing to the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals. The eighth-seeded Minutemen (22-10) stunned No. 1-seed Temple with a 15-0 run to open the second half and spoil the Owls' bid for a fourth tournament title in five seasons. UMass took control in the second half on a string of 3-pointers and Williams clinched it down the stretch from the free-throw line.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Jesse Morgan scored 21 points and Chaz Williams had 20 to lead Massachusetts to a 77-71 win over No. 21 Temple on Friday, advancing to the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals. The eighth-seeded Minutemen (22-10) stunned No. 1-seed Temple with a 15-0 run to open the second half and spoil the Owls' bid for a fourth tournament title in five seasons. UMass took control in the second half on a string of 3-pointers and Williams clinched it down the stretch from the free-throw line.

ATLANTIC CITY - Like a couple of heavyweight fighters who have been on stage in this building many times in its 83-year history, Temple and the University of Massachusetts slugged it out in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at Boardwalk Hall Friday afternoon. Decision: UMass via TKO. Simply put, the 77-71 victory was arguably one of the biggest of coach Derek Kellogg's four-year tenure with the Minutemen. Kellogg never lost an A-10 tourney game as a player for UMass from 1992-95.

Jesse Morgan started the run with a 3-pointer, and a Chaz Williams-to-Sean Carter alley-oop ended it with a bang. UMass 15, Temple 0. That's the kind of sizzling run that changes games and puts top-seeded teams on the brink of an upset loss. In this case, it was Temple. With the speedy Williams slicing his way down the lane toward 20 points and 10 assists, Massachusetts beat No. 21 Temple 77-71 on Friday, advancing to the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals. Yes, UMass knocked off a Top 25 Kansas team in 2008-09.

Nearly a decade after Temple's moribund football program was pushed out of the Big East, the revitalized Owls are rejoining the conference — and bringing along their potent men's basketball team. The school will move to the Big East for football next season and all other sports in 2013. "We didn't deserve, truthfully, to be in the football competition in those years. But it's hard to get kicked out," Lewis Katz, chairman of Temple's athletic committee, said at a news conference during the Big East men's basketball tournament Wednesday.

Juan Fernandez scored 19 points, backcourt mate Ramone Moore added 16 and No. 23 Temple beat Fordham 80-60 on Saturday to win the outright Atlantic 10 regular-season title for the first time since 1989-90. The Owls (24-6, 13-3) had clinched at least a share of their conference-record 10th title with a win over Massachusetts on Wednesday. The Owls, who have won 13 of their last 14 games, will be the No. 1 seed for the Atlantic 10 tournament. Chris Gaston had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Rams (10-19, 3-13)

UMass got an up-close look at the team it wants to become. The Minutemen pulled off the fantastic rally. They just couldn't complete the fantastic finish. Khalif Wyatt scored 26 points, including the winning layup in the final seconds of overtime, to help No. 23 Temple beat Massachusetts 90-88 on Wednesday night and clinch the top seed in next week's Atlantic 10 tournament. The Owls (23-6, 12-3) also clinched a tie for the regular-season conference title, though they hold the tiebreaker over Saint Louis.

Temple is too busy piling up wins in the Atlantic 10 to worry about a possible future in the Big East. If this is the end of the road for one of the conference's signature teams, the Owls are going out on top. Khalif Wyatt scored 26 points, including the winning layup in the final seconds of overtime, to help No. 23 Temple beat Massachusetts 90-88 on Wednesday night and clinch the top seed in next week's Atlantic 10 tournament. The Owls (23-6, 12-3) also clinched a tie for the regular-season conference title, though they hold the tiebreaker over Saint Louis.

Jacory Harris led quick touchdown drives to start each half and No. 19 Miami dominated host Pittsburgh much like it did when the schools were Big East rivals, winning, 31-3, last night. Harris shook off two interceptions to throw for two scores and 248 yards while finishing 21 of 32. Damien Berry did the rest by running for 87 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Miami (2-1) outgained Pitt, 348-232. The Hurricanes never gave Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri any time to throw in his third college start, and he was pulled in the fourth quarter after completing 8...