arcus Camby scored 23 points, including two foul shots with seven seconds left, to lift number two Massachusetts to a 62-59 non-conference win over number 21 Louisville.

Louisville's DeJuan Wheat got past Carmelo Travieso, but he's going nowhere against Marcus Camby.

Louisville had a chance to tie the game with under five seconds left, but Carmelo Travieso blocked DeJuan Wheat's three-point attempt and time expired.

U-Mass, virtually assured of a number one seed in the N-C-A-A tournament, finished the regular season with a 28-1 record, 15-1 in the Atlantic 10, and will next play on Thursday in the A-10 tournament.

In a game that was physical throughout and played at tournament intensity, Massachusetts built a double-digit first half lead behind Camby's 11 points, mostly on moves close to the basket. Dana Dingle carried the load on the boards in the first half with eight rebounds.

"That was one of the most physical games I've ever been a part of," said U-Mass coach John Calipari. "But it was consistently physical. I can live with that. We just beat the crap out of us. As coaches, all we're looking for is consistency."

Camby presence was also felt on the defensive end. Samaki Walker came off the bench and his first shot attempt was swatted away by Camby. Despite Camby's and the Minutemen's swarming defense, Louisville was able to chip away at the lead and closed the half with a 5-2 run behind a three-pointer by Damion Dantzler and a short jumper by Walker, to cut the deficit to 34-27.

The intensity picked up in the second half as Louisville refused to go away. U-Mass went up 48-40 with 11:20 left on a layup by Tyrone Weeks, but Louisville responded behind two three-pointers by Brian Keiser to pull the Cardinals to within 48-46 with 10:23 left.

Louisville hung tough and cut the lead to 58-57 on three Wheat foul shots. After the teams traded baskets, Wheat made a driving layup to pull the Cardinals to 60-59 with 2:03 left.

After two Massachusetts turnovers, Louisville had a chance to hold for one shot and the win. Wheat attempted to dribble the clock down, and as he was driving to the right wing Donta Bright picked him up on a switch and Wheat lost the ball out of bounds.

On the ensuing inbounds pass Walker was forced to give a foul to Camby, as Louisville was not yet over the limit. Walker then committed his fifth foul on the next play and Camby calmly sank both free throws for the final 62-59 margin.

"It was a heck of a game," said Louisville coach Denny Crum. "I guess that's what you look for in college basketball -- two teams playing their hearts out."

Camby strengthened his bid for player-of-the-year honors, as he added eight rebounds and five blocks to his 23 points and clutch foul shooting. Camby was 8-of-18 from the field and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

"He's as good as there is," said Crum. "He can score, block shots, rebound and he's a good passer. He's a heck of a player. He reminds me a lot of Pervis Ellison."

Dingle finished the game with 15 rebounds along with scoring 11 points and Bright added 12 points.

Edgar Padilla recorded seven assists and five steals, including his 75th of the year to set the U-Mass single-season record for steals.

"They like one another and they care about one another," said Calipari about his team. "I told them before the game -- and coaches say this all the time -- I know about problems at other programs, but my team, I love being around them."

Louisville shot only 36 per cent (21-of-59) from the field and 69 per cent (9-of-13) from the foul line.

Massachusetts shot a respectable 46 per cent (24-of-52) from the field, but the difference was at the free throw line were the Minutemen missed only one attempt, going 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.

Wheat, who was playing with a sore shooting hand, finished with 10 points on only 2-of-10 shooting from the field. He added seven assists and committed only two turnovers.

Kiser led Louisville with 14 points, including hitting 4-of-7 from behind the three-point line. Tick Rogers finished the game with 13 points and Walker had just six points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Cardinals, who next play in the Conference U-S-A tournament, dropped to 19-10.

The Minutemen finished the season 19-0 at neutral site and road games and 8-0 against top 25 teams.

The game was played before a Freedom Hall record crowd of 20,076 fans.

MASSACHUSETTS (62)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Dingle          34  4-11   3-4  4-15  1  1   11
Bright          31  6-10   0-0   3-4  3  3   12
Camby           34  8-18   7-7   3-8  1  3   23
E Padilla       34   1-1   0-0   0-5  7  0    2
Travieso        39   2-7   2-2   1-3  3  3    8
Clarke           7   0-0   0-0   0-0  1  0    0
Norville         6   1-2   0-0   0-1  0  1    2
Weeks           15   2-3   0-0   0-3  0  0    4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 24-52 12-13 11-39 16 11   62
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.462, FT-.923. 3-Point Goals:
2-4, .500 (Travieso 2-4). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 6 (Camby 5, Travieso). Turnovers:
17 (E Padilla 7, Camby 4, Weeks 2, Bright,
Clarke, Dingle, Travieso). Steals: 8 (E Padilla
5, Bright, Camby, Travieso).

LOUISVILLE (59)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Sims            29   3-9   0-0   2-4  1  0    6
Dantzler        26   3-7   0-0   3-5  0  0    7
Smith           13   1-2   1-2   0-0  1  2    3
Rogers          28   5-8   1-3   2-2  0  3   13
Wheat           33  2-10   5-5   1-2  7  0   10
Walker          27  2-10   2-3   2-8  2  5    6
Kiser           32  5-11   0-0   0-5  2  1   14
Flynn           12   0-2   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-59  9-13 10-27 13 11   59
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.356, FT-.692. 3-Point Goals:
8-16, .500 (Sims 0-1, Dantzler 1-2, Rogers 2-2,
Wheat 1-3, Kiser 4-7, Flynn 0-1). Team rebounds:
1. Blocked shots: 3 (Sims, Dantzler, Walker).
Turnovers: 13 (Flynn 4, Kiser 3, Wheat 2,
Dantzler, Rogers, Sims, Walker). Steals: 10 (Sims
4, Walker 3, Rogers 2, Kiser).
__________________________________
Massachusetts      34   28  -   62
Louisville         27   32  -   59
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Massachusetts 1 (Head Coach
Calipari).  A: 20,076. Officials: Larry Lembo,
Steve Olson, Steve Welmer.