AUI - In some ways, it seems, nothing has changed from a year ago.

There is the spooky specter of Marcus Camby collapsing. There is an impassioned University of Massachusetts coach getting kicked out of a game. And there is a team that doesn't quit.

The Minutemen had a hard time keeping a handle on the ball (Travieso top, Babul below).

It was clear on Tuesday, however, that one thing is radically different from the 1995-96 season. This UMass team, at least for now, is a long way from No. 1 rankings and the Final Four.

The 1-1 Minutemen fell to Virginia, 75-68, in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday in a game that was nowhere near as close as the final score suggests. UMass trailed by 12 at the half, and by as many as 20 in the second half.

"I'm not worried at all," coach Bruiser Flint asserted. "Virginia's good. It's going to take some time."

Flint, like the rest of the UMass team, did not learn of Camby's situation up in Toronto until after the game. Though the UMass coach admitted the news was originally frightening, he said he was heartened by the initial reports that suggested that Camby's injury was not related to his unexplained collapse in January before a UMass game against St. Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y.

The other loud echo from a year ago was Flint's two technical toss-out. Like his predecessor John Calipari, who got bounced from the loss to George Washington in February, Flint found himself in the locker room during a UMass contest -- thanks to earning a second technical with 2:06 left in the game, by which time the outcome was long decided.

"I was just trying to fight for my team," said a chastened Flint afterward. "We had a great (officiating) crew today, and I just lost my head. I apologized to (official) Jim Burr after the game."

Of greater concern to Flint was his team's anemic offense. The Minutemen shot just 25 percent in the first half, missing shot after shot. Virginia put great ball pressure on the UMass perimeter players, and the Minutemen were forced to score from the interior. Only Tyrone Weeks (a second straight double-double with game-high totals of 22 points and 11 rebounds) could answer the challenge. UMass' other interior players struggled.

Virginia, meanwhile, offered a smooth, multifaceted attack with four players in double figures. Power forward Norman Nolan had a strong mano-a-mano duel with Weeks, scoring 20 points. Courtney Alexander also scored 20, presenting an explosiveness off the dribble that UMass had trouble defending.

The Minutemen did get some production from their vaunted backcourt of Carmelo Travieso (16 points) and Edgar Padilla (11), but a large chunk of that came late when the Minutemen made the game respectable. The guards shot a combined 10-31.

"They played good defense," Padilla said. "But a lot of times the shots just didn't go in."

Virginia will play in the championship game tomorrow at 10:30 against the winner of Tuesday's Kansas/California game. UMass will play in the third-place game at 7:30 against the loser.

VIRGINIA (75)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Nolan           32 10-16   0-4   4-5  0  4   20
Alexander       29  6-13   6-7   0-4  2  0   20
Metheney         5   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  3    0
Staples         36  4-11   1-2   1-8  6  1   11
Deane           33   3-5  6-10   0-1  4  2   13
Mcandrew        26   0-0   0-3   2-6  2  1    0
Ducharme        15   3-5   0-0   3-4  0  2    6
Robinson        21   1-4   3-6   3-6  1  1    5
Dersch           3   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 27-55 16-32 13-34 15 14   75
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Percentages: FG-.491, FT-.500. 3-Point Goals:
5-14, .357 (Alexander 2-4, Staples 2-8, Deane
1-2). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 5
(Ducharme 2, Deane, Nolan, Robinson). Turnovers:
14 (Nolan 5, Robinson 4, Deane 3, Alexander,
Mcandrew). Steals: 5 (Deane 3, Nolan, Staples).

MASSACHUSETTS (68)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Smith           20   1-4   0-0   3-5  1  4    2
Weeks           35  9-17   4-4  5-11  0  2   22
Norville        18   0-6   0-0   5-7  0  2    0
Padilla         33  4-12   1-2   1-3  6  3   11
Travieso        32  6-19   0-0   0-3  5  5   16
Ketner          19   2-6   3-5   3-6  0  2    7
Babul           14   1-1   0-0   1-4  2  4    2
Clarke          23   4-9   0-0   1-3  2  2    8
Basit            5   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Kirkland         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 27-75  8-11 19-42 16 24   68
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.360, FT-.727. 3-Point Goals:
6-24, .250 (Padilla 2-8, Travieso 4-13, Clarke
0-3). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 5 (Ketner
2, Norville, Padilla, Weeks). Turnovers: 12
(Norville 3, Padilla 3, Ketner 2, Travieso 2,
Basit, Weeks). Steals: 11 (Padilla 4, Weeks 3,
Babul 2, Clarke, Smith).
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Virginia           34   41  -   75
Massachusetts      22   46  -   68
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Massachusetts bench (2),
Coach Flint ejected.  A: 2,500.
Officials: James Burr, Bob Donato, Dick Cartmell.