PHILADELPHIA (AP) (February 24) -- Temple coach John Chaney watched his eighth-ranked

Owls win their 12th straight game Thursday, but he was not too

happy about it.

Chaney was upset with the way his team played defense. He thought three

turnovers on offense were three too many. Mostly, Chaney was furious

with

Pepe Sanchez.

The senior point guard had a career-high 13 assists for the Owls (21-4,

12-1 Atlantic 10) in a 75-58 victory over St. Bonaventure. But Sanchez

received a technical foul for taunting Eric Siegrist after his 13th

assist on a no-look, behind-the-back pass from the top of the key to

Lynn Greer, who

buried a 3-pointer from the corner to give Temple its biggest lead,

64-43 with 6:41 to play.

Chaney removed Sanchez from the game after the play. Sanchez, seemingly

upset, sat next to Chaney for a few minutes and then went to the end of

the bench.

``No player has the right to pick up a technical foul,'' the irate

Chaney said. ``He's done it every year. For some reason, a screw goes

off in his head.

I'm not going to try to figure it out because I'm not a psychiatrist.

I'm going to take him out every time and punish him.''

Sanchez and the rest of the Owls did not speak to reporters after the

game because Chaney closed the locker room.

``I don't think a team I've been emotionally charged with should have

to explain my attack on them,'' Chaney said.

Temple, which beat then-No. 1 Cincinnati 77-69 last Sunday, trailed

only once in the game and led by 15 at halftime. Quincy Wadley scored 17

points

and Lynn Greer added 14 to lead the Owls.

St. Bonaventure (16-8, 8-5) tried to confuse Temple by alternating

between zone and man-to-man defenses, but the Owls managed to hit

17-of-32

shots (53 percent) in the first half, including 5-of-12 3-pointers.

``They came out shooting the basketball, same as in Cincinnati,'' St.

Bonaventure coach Jim Baron said. ``They started from the perimeter

early then

they went inside. They have great, great balance.''

It was the 20th straight home victory for Temple. But Chaney wouldn't

say anything more than call it ``fair.''

``I wasn't too pleased with our perimeter defense,'' Chaney said.

The Bonnies nailed four consecutive 3-pointers in the second half to

close within 14 points after trailing by 21.

Chaney did have a few kind words about Sanchez's play despite blasting

his conduct.

``When a kid has 13 assists, that's the equivalent of 26 points,''

Chaney said. ``We can't worry about him scoring baskets. We worry about

him

distributing the ball. A point guard at Temple is different than other

places where point guards are supposed to score points.''

Sanchez, who is nursing a sore ankle, scored seven points.

Mark Karcher, coming off a 28-point performance against the Bearcats,

scored 11 points on 4-for-14 shooting. Lamont Barnes led the Owls with

seven rebounds as Temple won the battle on the boards 40-33.

Patricio Prato and David Messiah-Capers each scored 12 points for the

Bonnies, who shot 20-for-54 (37 percent). Temple finished 28-for-62 (45

percent), including 8-for-24 from 3-point-range.

The Owls, who improved to 36-5 against St. Bonaventure, fell out of the

top 25 after losing to the Bonnies 57-56 on Jan. 15.

``They had a lot more focus and energy, and Pepe is healthy,'' Baron

said. ``We tried to sag off Pepe. It helped sometimes and not other

times.

They're a top 10 basketball team and playing with a lot of

confidence.''