ANDOVER, Md. -- For once, coach John Calipari didn't give his larynx a workout. Didn't have to. His Massachusetts Minutemen dominated Florida from the outset of yesterday's Franklin National Bank Classic final and breezed to an 80-58 rout.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Marcus Camby had a game-high 30 points, Dana Dingle had 12 rebounds and Edgar Padilla had 10 assists for fifth-ranked UMass (3-0).

The Minutemen led by as many as 22 points in the first half and were ahead, 37-18, at halftime. They suffered a brief lapse that allowed Florida to cut the lead to 61-44 with 7:37 left, then reeled off 7 points over the next 1:25 to foil Florida's hopes.

Not bad for a team many figured would struggle, having just two experienced guards -- Padilla and Carmelo Travieso.

The two have had to log the team's biggest share of minutes, in part because shooting guard/point guard Charlton Clarke is out at least six weeks after having foot surgery Thursday. But the two have silenced critics' claims that their sub-par preseason play would carry over to the regular season.

"In the preseason, I was playing pretty bad," said Padilla. "But I worked hard durng practice and that has helped me get my confidence back."

UMass begins its season at 3-0 for the third time in five seasons. "The worst we can do over its first seven games is 3-4, and I thought there was a good chance we would be 0-7," said Calipari, whose team shot 61 percent from the floor in the second half yesterday and outrebounded Florida, 46-28. "Our kids have really improved over the past two weeks."

In the Minutemen's grueling 50-47 win over Maryland in the tournament's first-round game, Calipari showed he has some of the best vocal cords in the business. Ditto the season opener against Kentucky. Yesterday, the coach hardly raised his voice, as the Minutemen -- who have played three games in six days -- jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 18:55 left.

"We came ready to play," said Calipari. "Anytime you get a 7-0 lead or a 9-0 lead or an 11-0 lead, it's always followed by a letdown. Then the other team comes back. A good team will then bump it up again."

Florida rallied to tie it at 11-11 with 12:21 left in the first half on a 3-point play by guard Greg Williams. Then Camby took control.

With 11:47 left on the game clock, 1 second left on the shot clock, Camby drained a 15-foot baseline jumper to give UMass a 13-11 lead. He made the score 15-11 with two free throws with 11:23 left. With 8:21 to go, he scored on a baseline pullup jumper to give UMass an 18-13 edge.

With Florida mired in a shooting slump (the Gators went 7 minutes without a point), the Minutemen kept scoring. Camby made it 27-13 on a bucket underneath (assist Padilla) with 4:14 left and added two free throws with 2:50 to go to make it 31-13.

Camby has scored at least 30 points in two of the Minutemen's three games. ''I have improved my level of confidence from last year," he said. "I have just worked hard on my game, working on my jumper."

In the second half, UMass eased up and Florida capitalized. Center Dametri Hill scored on a 3-point play with 7:37 left to cut the lead to 61-47. Then Florida applied a press. But Dingle scored on a 3-point play and Camby followed with four free throws. End of rally. All that was left was the final horn.

"When we cut it to 14 we got into our trap defense and they were able to get easy baskets because of our breakdowns," said Hill. "That was our fault."

Calipari had no qualms about any facet of his team's play, but he did take exception to the fact that Camby was the only UMass player selected to the all-tournament team. When asked about UMass' next matchup -- against Wake Forest Wednesday -- Calipari chided the fourth estate about billing the game as a matchup between Camby and Wake Forest standout center Tim Duncan.

"It's a lot of pressure on our kids, especially Marcus, with this game being played up as Camby vs. Duncan," said Calipari. "It's not fair to Marcus. It's UMass vs. Wake Forest."

Tell that to the 22 pro scouts scheduled to attend. UMass sports information director Bill Strickland said he expects that number to climb over the next few days. Camby, meanwhile, played down the matchup yesterday. "I haven't really thought about it yet," he said. "The next couple of days I'll look forward to it."

77.27 Kb 600 x 912

16.14 Kb 203 x 360

55.16 Kb 600 x 484

16.07 Kb 185 x 360

19.01 Kb 239 x 360

FLORIDA (58)

                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Thompson        19   1-7   0-0   4-6  1  2    2
Stolt           25   0-5   0-2   2-4  2  1    0
D Hill          27   4-8   3-5   0-2  0  4   12
G Williams      32   3-9   3-6   0-4  4  2    9
Shannon         27  4-11   1-2   0-1  0  1    9
Spruel          13   1-3   0-0   0-1  0  1    2
L Williams      20   5-6   6-8   5-7  0  2   17
D Williams      15   1-3   0-0   0-1  0  0    2
Maddox           6   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  2    0
Lee              9   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    3
Mcfarland        4   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    2
Griffiths        1   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Bates            2   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-56 13-23 11-26  7 16   58
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.375, FT-.565. 3-Point Goals:
3-12, .250 (Stolt 0-2, D Hill 1-1, G Williams
0-1, Shannon 0-3, Spruel 0-1, L Williams 1-1, Lee
1-1, Griffiths 0-1, Bates 0-1). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 13 (L Williams 2,
Thompson 2, D Hill, D Williams, G Williams,
Maddox, Mcfarland, Shannon, Spruel, Stolt).
Steals: 1 (Lee).


MASSACHUSETTS (80)

                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Dingle          31   4-7   1-1  6-12  3  1    9
Bright          30  4-10   0-0   1-6  3  3    8
Camby           25  9-15 12-16   1-8  2  3   30
E Padilla       36   1-5   0-0   0-4 10  3    3
Travieso        34   3-8   2-2   1-2  1  1   11
Nunez           11   0-1   0-0   0-2  1  1    0
Norville        11   4-6   0-0   4-6  0  2    8
Weeks           13   2-4   1-2   1-2  0  4    5
G Padilla        4   1-1   0-0   0-2  2  1    2
Cottrell         3   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Burns            1   2-2   0-0   0-0  0  0    4
Maclay           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-60 16-21 14-44 22 20   80
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.762. 3-Point Goals:
4-10, .400 (Dingle 0-1, E Padilla 1-3, Travieso
3-6). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 4 (Camby
2, Nunez, Weeks). Turnovers: 15 (E Padilla 5,
Camby 2, Dingle 2, G Padilla 2, Bright, Norville,
Nunez, Travieso). Steals: 6 (E Padilla 3, Bright,
Dingle, Travieso).

__________________________________
Florida            18   40  --  58
Massachusetts      37   43  --  80
__________________________________

Technical fouls: None.  A: 16,358. Officials:
Frank Scagliotta, Mike Wood, Stanley Rote.