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+ | ====== March 26, 1992 - UMass vs. Kentucky ====== | ||
+ | * Season: [[season_1991-92|1991-92]] | ||
+ | * Date: Thursday, March 26, 1992 | ||
+ | * Opponent: [[opponent_kentucky|Kentucky]] | ||
+ | * Start Time: 7:30 PM ET | ||
+ | * Site: The Spectrum, Philadelphia PA | ||
+ | * Special Event: [[championships# | ||
+ | * TV: CBS | ||
+ | =====Previews===== | ||
+ | ==== Boston Globe ==== | ||
+ | === 3/25 December game revisited === | ||
+ | **UMass Out To Atone For Kentucky Visit**\\ | ||
+ | By Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | AMHERST - For its Dec. 4 game against Kentucky, Massachusetts' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Once the game started, they were hardly the Minutemen who had run their record to 5-0. Kentucky, which hadn't played in nearly two weeks, walked away with a 90-69 victory before a sellout crowd of 24,000 at Rupp Arena. | ||
+ | |||
+ | That's why the Minutemen are elated to get another crack at the Wildcats in tomorrow' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We were under bad circumstances in that game," said center Harper Williams, who helped put the Minutemen in the East semis with a thrilling 3- point basket with 30 seconds left against Syracuse Sunday. "We played a great game but we couldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The thing was, we had no time to prepare," | ||
+ | |||
+ | The scenario that kept UMass from being prepared? After they defeated New Orleans, the Minutemen were scheduled to take a flight at 1:30 a.m. Alaska time (5:30 a.m. EST) to Portland, Ore., then a connecting flight to Cincinnati, then a 90-minute drive south to Lexington. But because of engine trouble, the team sat at the airport for nearly four hours and didn't leave Anchorage until 5 a.m. Alaska time. They missed the connecting flight in Portland and had to wait five more hours. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Minutemen checked into a Portland hotel for four hours to get a little sleep, then boarded what assistant coach James Flint said was a jam-packed flight to Cincinnati. | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass arrived in Cincy at 8:30 p.m., but was slowed in traffic because of snow. "Our mental clocks were really five hours behind," | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass conducted a shootaround and "went over some stuff," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Not only did Kentucky have time to prepare, but it entered the game after being routed by Pittsburgh at home Nov. 22 in the second round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament. Calipari expressed concern as early as Nov. 23 (at halftime of the UMass-New Hampshire football game) that Kentucky would be eager for a win. Kentucky, however, had its own misfortune the day before the game, losing starting guard Jeff Brassow to an ankle injury. | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass played well at the start, leading by as many as 6 points. The Minutemen were ahead, 19-15, when Kentucky staged a 9-0 run. Led by guard Richie Farmer, Kentucky increased its lead to 42-31 with 4:32 left in the half before UMass made an 8-0 run to close to 42-39. UMass trailed at halftime, 46-41. | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass kept it close until the 12-minute mark of the second half, when Kentucky began pulling away and the Minutemen didn't have the legs to stage a rally. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "In the first half, we didn't play well at all. In the second half, we did, but we just tired out at the end of the game." | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass, which left after practice yesterday for Philadelphia, | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Will it make a difference this time? I don't know," said Calipari. “Kentucky is playing much better than at that time. But so are we." | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/25 Notebook === | ||
+ | **Glass Slipper Doesn' | ||
+ | //NCAA Tournament Notebook// | ||
+ | By Mark Blaudschun and Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Looking for a Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament? Some are pinning that label on John Calipari' | ||
+ | |||
+ | No, the real dark horses will be in the Midwest Regional in Kansas City Friday. Only fourth-seeded Cincinnati was expected to make it past the first two rounds, and the Bearcats are developing their own drama, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their last national championship. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The other teams are truly underdogs. Texas-El Paso, the ninth seed, made it to the Sweet 16 by stunning No. 1 Kansas. Sixth-seeded Memphis State pulled off a minor surprise by beating third-seeded Arkansas, and seventh-seeded Georgia Tech came up with a miracle last-second shot to knock off No. 2 seed Southern Cal. | ||
+ | |||
+ | If anyone but Cincinnati wins, the Midwest will send the lowest-seeded team to the Final Four since Kansas advanced out of the Midwest Regional in 1988 as a sixth seed. The Jayhawks, with the benefit of playing the Final Four at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, went on to win the title. The Jayhawks were the lowest-seeded team to win a championship since Villanova did it in 1985 as an eighth seed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The biggest underdog is 12th-seeded New Mexico State, which has the toughest route -- top-seeded UCLA and then either No. 3 seed Florida State or No. 2 seed Indiana. | ||
+ | |||
+ | BYPASSING WICHITA | ||
+ | |||
+ | Former Rice coach Scott Thompson yesterday was named head man at Wichita State, which had considered Calipari for the post. "What I think they wanted me to do is move now, and I told them I wasn't willing to take it," said Calipari, who is in the final year of his original four-year contract. The pact is automatically renewed every four years, to assure recruits he will be around for their tenure. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/26 New England team of the 90s? === | ||
+ | **Minutemen May Be The N.E. Team Of The ' | ||
+ | By Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | AMHERST -- John Calipari took the Curry Hicks Cage floor on Nov. 8, 1988, with a spanking new suit and a kick in his step. It was his first game as head coach of Massachusetts, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Just before the game started, Calipari noticed that four men in UMass garb took seats right behind the Minutemen bench. Then, to his surprise, the four began heckling the Minutemen just after tipoff. "This team is terrible! Is this what we're paying you for?" said one. "Even former coach Ron Gerlufsen teams were better than this!" said another. Then the four began chanting the first names of Calipari and his three assistants -- Bill Bayno, Dave Glover and Roger McCready -- in a tone similar to the " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | John began to wonder what had he gotten himself into. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I turned to one of the senior players and said, 'Is this the way it is at every home game?' " recalled Calipari. That was to say nothing of the Minutemen' | ||
+ | |||
+ | How times have changed. In the centennial year of basketball, the Division 1 team closest to the the sport' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Tonight' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "When I brought John Calipari in, immediately I knew he was a winner," | ||
+ | |||
+ | And those heckling Cage fans of four years ago? Long gone. They' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "In my freshman year, we had to beg people to come watch us play," said senior guard Jim McCoy. "There would be no one there, 200 people at the most. Now people are bugging us for tickets. So the program has changed around, but you have to give credit to the coaching staff. They' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "This is the year where you try real hard to keep things in perspective; | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari gets excited about the 30-win mark, particularly when he considers where the team has come from. "We used to lose by 33 points on the road," he said. "Then Anton Brown goes down, and we find a good point guard in Cary Herer, who helps us to get to the finals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. If that would not have happened, none of this would be possible. And now we have 30 wins! 3-0! . . . I expect now that we level off and stay at a certain point of competitiveness." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Whether UMass will lay claim to being the team of the '90s remains to be seen. But a foundation appears set for at least the next couple of years. Even with the Minutemen graduating three senior starters, the two junior returnees -- Tony Barbee and Harper Williams -- should be more than enough to prevent a rebuilding year. UMass' other underclassmen -- particularly freshmen Lou Roe and Jerome Malloy -- could ensure a solid future with sound development. Moreover, Calipari' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Next season UMass is scheduled to move into a new 9,000-seat convocation center, just in time to accommodate the hundreds who are turned away for home games after Curry Hicks Cage reaches capacity. The center is expected to open next year -- maybe as early as January. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Perhaps no one at UMass is more aware of how far the basketball program has come than former coach Jack Leaman, the school' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "If you think there' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "It was tough; we were outmanned and outspent," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "You can go from top to bottom like this," added Leaman, snapping his fingers. "But to go from bottom back to top is not easy." | ||
+ | |||
+ | There' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now the task will be warding off competitive challenges from those who are where UMass used to be. "They can't claim to be David anymore," | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/26 Calipari column === | ||
+ | **Calipari Is Proving He's His Own Man**\\ | ||
+ | By Bob Ryan, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- John Calipari has felt the need to inform the public exactly who he is not. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I coach with my own personality," | ||
+ | |||
+ | He was an assistant coach with Brown at Kansas. He was an assistant coach for two years with Evans at Pitt. But the routine comparison is with Pitino, a fellow Italian from the Northeast whom he first met at the famed Five Star Camp many years ago. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Pitino, Pitino, Pitino. The reference follows him everywhere. Pitino was a Five Star prodigy who received his first Division 1 head coaching job (Boston University) at age 25. Calipari was a Five Star prodigy who assumed his first Division 1 head coaching job at age 28. Aside from the shared Italian heritage and the obvious good looks, each was a collegiate point guard and each is regarded as both frighteningly ambitious and amazingly organized. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The automatic assumption that Calipari is nothing but a Little Ricky has been fueled by the fact that Pitino, then the Knicks' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "What I do know," Calipari laughs, "is that his suits cost $1,000 and mine cost $150. He's got Gucci shoes on. I've got itchy shoes on." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari was ready for the first Pitino inquiry yesterday. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | OK, so who is John Calipari? | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I lived five steps from the high school," | ||
+ | |||
+ | This took place in the Pittsburgh-area town of Moon, Pa. Young John went on to become a three-year starter on the high school basketball team. He was good enough to earn a scholarship to North Carolina-Wilmington, | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I was a gym rat," he explains. "I lived to play. Whenever I had any frustrations, | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We talked. We're still friends, incidentally. I said, ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | But leaving North Carolina-Wilmington for Clarion (Pa.) State still wasn't easy for him. "It was a very, very tough experience," | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Calipari still likes baseball a little and golf a little and he used to like football, but primarily because of Francis Tarkenton. "He was unconventional," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hockey? "I went to one hockey match -- is that what they call it, a match? The first period ended and here comes the guy with the Zamboni. I said, 'What happens now? We watch this guy drive around?' | ||
+ | |||
+ | So we're talking basketball, period. John Calipari has studied basketball and those who play it the way an ayatollah dissects the Koran. He has concluded that the essential dynamic is this: five egos, one basketball. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The important aspect of coaching," | ||
+ | |||
+ | He starts off each season with the same dissertation. "I tell them that I've added up all their high school averages and it comes to 285 points a game," he explains. " 'So it's pretty obvious some of you guys are going to have to do something other than shoot the ball.' It's hard for some of them to accept." | ||
+ | |||
+ | The record suggests that Calipari knows how to impart his message. His five starters average 10-16 points a game. "We don't have just one ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I don't know if I'm a good coach," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari is a definite hands-on coach who is comfortable injecting himself into every facet of his players' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | He has taken a team to the Sweet 16 at age 32. The smart money says this will not represent the pinnacle of his coaching career. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/26 Notebook === | ||
+ | **Pitino: A Win Is Bigger Than Old School Ties**\\ | ||
+ | //NCAA Tournament Notebook// | ||
+ | By Mark Blaudschun and Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "There is no emotion when you play your alma mater," | ||
+ | |||
+ | When Kentucky defeated Massachusetts earlier this season, Pitino said he hoped his alma mater would reach the field of 64. "I said that I hoped that we meet each other in the Final Four," he said. "I thought they were an outstanding ball club that there is nothing to be embarrassed about in Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "They have three 1,000-point scorers. They' | ||
+ | |||
+ | COACH-ALIKES? | ||
+ | |||
+ | As expected, there have been many comparisons between Pitino and UMass coach John Calipari. "I don't think I look anything like him; people say I do," said Calipari. "I can't get my eyes to widen like his." Said UMass guard Jim McCoy, " | ||
+ | |||
+ | NO GUARANTEES | ||
+ | |||
+ | Duke, as the No. 1 seed in the East and top-ranked team in the country, is the favorite to make it out of this region. But no one is conceding the Blue Devils a free pass. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I would not be surprised to see Duke lose," said Pitino. "The great thing about this tournament is that for any one game, something can go wrong, even for a great team like Duke, and then they' | ||
+ | |||
+ | THANKS A LOT | ||
+ | |||
+ | Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo had some fun with the NCAA basketball tournament committee, which has placed the Pirates in the same region as the No. 1-ranked team in four of the past five years. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/26 Game preview === | ||
+ | **UMass Seeks To Exploit Its Inside Information**\\ | ||
+ | By Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- The way Massachusetts coach John Calipari talked about his team's preparation for Kentucky in tonight' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari insists that Kentucky coach Rick Pitino will abandon his 3-point- oriented offense and pull the same wrinkle that led Pitino' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I think Rick believes he has an advantage against us inside." | ||
+ | |||
+ | That would be quite a change for Pitino, whose offense is geared around two shots -- 3-pointers and layups. Pitino has said repeatedly that he winces when players take shots from 15-18 feet; he figures that if you simply step back a couple of feet, you've got a chance at 3. In fact, his players often run a practice drill in which they stand two steps behind the 3-point line, so they can step up and fire when they square to the basket. That helps prevent suspense when officials rule whether a player' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Yet Calipari believes Kentucky will abandon all this and gear its offense around 6-foot-7-inch center Jamal Mashburn, a widebody who scored 28 points against the Minutemen in Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "They will get the ball to Mashburn inside with his back to the basket," | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We don't know if we're good enough to beat Kentucky. They' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The man assigned to guard Mashburn will be center Harper Williams, who helped guide UMass here with a late 3-point basket in the 77-71 win over Syracuse. | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass guard Jim McCoy agrees with his coach. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Not surprisingly, | ||
+ | |||
+ | If this is like the regular-season meeting, Calipari could be right. Kentucky made just four 3-point baskets. In addition to Mashburn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | McCoy doesn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari agreed. "The game at Kentucky, they beat us," he said. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Philadelphia Inquirer ==== | ||
+ | **UMass Continues Quest For Respect Against Kentucky**\\ | ||
+ | By Jere Longman, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | On Dec. 4, exhausted and redolent of victory after winning the Great Alaska Shootout, Massachusetts stopped off at Kentucky, where the Minutemen lost the game, 90-69, and much of their recently won prestige. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We kinda got blown out," said guard Jim McCoy, UMass' all-time leading scorer. "When we got home, we got a lot of criticism. They said we couldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | When the NCAA tournament pairings were announced two weeks ago, McCoy flashed a smile of redemption. The East Regional bracket was familiar. The Minutemen (30-4) had beaten their first-round opponent, Fordham, in last year's NIT. They had defeated Iowa State earlier this season. And, looming ahead in the regional semifinals was Kentucky (28-6). | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We can go as far as we want," McCoy told his teammates. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The rematch takes place tonight at the Spectrum (Channel 10, 7:40), after 3 1/2 agonizing months of waiting. Aside from advancing the winner one step closer to the Final Four, the game offers different rewards to Kentucky and UMass. The Wildcats are trying to recapture the glory of Kentucky basketball after two seasons on NCAA probation. UMass is building something that Kentucky has had for decades - a reputation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The alma mater of Julius Erving and Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, UMass is still largely ignored on the basketball scene, playing as it does in the TV- limited Atlantic Ten Conference. This is the first appearance by the Minutemen in the NCAA tournament in 30 years. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We beat Oklahoma, we still didn't get any respect," | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the December meeting, Kentucky took a 46-41 halftime lead, surged ahead by 15 points with five minutes left, then inflated the margin with free-throw shooting down the stretch. The Wildcats displayed a certain resourcefulness; | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky played at home after 12 days of rest. UMass had played 48 hours earlier - in Alaska. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "When people ask about that game, I say, 'How would you feel if you flew 14 hours, came in at 9 or 10 at night and played the next night at 7 o' | ||
+ | |||
+ | There is little connective tissue between that game and this one. UMass is a vastly improved team. It has won 14 straight games, 19 of 20. The Minutemen play a blood-sport brand of basketball, contesting every rebound, unleashing a barbed-wire defense, diving for loose balls, clawing, scratching, prevailing with a fierce desperation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | All five starters, led by McCoy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Minutemen can run, they can pull back the throttle, they can hit free throws in crunch time. Against Syracuse, they hauled down 19 offensive rebounds. More important, the Minutemen are loose, apparently unencumbered by the pressure of the NCAA tournament. Last week, coach John Calipari said that his team's biggest worry was where it was going to eat. Yesterday, asked what concerned UMass about Kentucky, McCoy said, "I don't think we have any concerns." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari interrupted, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky plays the same relentless style that Pitino employed at Providence and with the New York Knicks - three-point shooting and 40 minutes of pressure defense. The Wildcats forced 30 turnovers in an 88-69 first-round win over Old Dominion. Against Iowa State, Kentucky drained eight three-pointers in the first half, then demonstrated its versatility by dumping the ball inside to Mashburn in the second half to win, 106-98. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We like the reputation of being a three-point team," Pitino said. '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari, the UMass coach, is playing to the hilt this idea of the David of UMass versus the Goliath of Kentucky. Calipari said Pitino' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | =====Recaps===== | ||
+ | ==== UMass Athletics ==== | ||
+ | //From the UMass Basketball 1992-93 Media Guide, published by [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | This one was more painful than the first meeting of the year as UMass fought back from a 50-42 halftime deficit to close the gap to two with 6:17 remaining. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Minutemen couldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes and led by as many as 21 points with 7:33 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats shot 68 percent in the first half and 56 percent for the game while forcing 16 UMass turnovers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Boston Globe ==== | ||
+ | === 3/27 Game recap === | ||
+ | **UMass Dream Ends**\\ | ||
+ | //Kentucky Ends Dream For UMass//\\ | ||
+ | //NCAA Basketball Tournament// | ||
+ | By Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- Long after their faces have cracked and their hair has turned silver, they will reflect on this game -- and wells of "what ifs" will fill their minds and bring tears to their eyes. What if they hadn't gotten off to such a poor start? What if they hadn't blown four opportunities to cut the lead to 2 before finally doing so? And what if the coach hadn't been hit with a technical foul at the most pivotal moment? | ||
+ | |||
+ | Perhaps the finest basketball season in University of Massachusetts history would not have come to such a bitter end last night. Instead, all the aformentioned scenarios -- and much more -- did take place. They enabled Kentucky, the team which handed UMass its first loss of the season, to hand the Minutemen their last, an 87-77 defeat in the NCAA East Regional semifinals at the Spectrum. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The loss ends 17th-ranked and third-seeded UMass' season at 30-5. Kentucky, seeded second and ranked sixth, improved to 29-6 and will meet Duke. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky center Jamal Mashburn, who scored 28 points (on 9-for-15 shooting) in a 90-69 win over UMass Dec. 4, outdid himself last night -- 30 points (11- for-15 shooting), including 17 in the first half. He helped Kentucky jump out to a 37-16 lead with 7:33 left in the half. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I told Mashburn that he had to have an NBA All-Star game tonight," | ||
+ | |||
+ | But UMass staged a late rally and cut the lead to 50-42 at intermission. The Minutemen' | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass cut the gap to 60-58 with 12:25 left on a bucket by Will Herndon. It came after the Minutemen botched four chances to cut the lead further after pulling to 58-54 with 14:59 left. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky went up, 68-62, with 7:51 left. Then with 6:15 to go, UMass guard Anton Brown drained a 3-point basket to cut the lead to 70-68. The place was rocking and the game appeared capable of going either way. | ||
+ | |||
+ | With six minutes left, it did. Kentucky forward Deron Feldhaus attempted a 3-pointer, and the ball sailed high off the rim. Brown went up to haul it in, but guard Sean Woods came up behind him and tapped it back to Kentucky. UMass coach John Calipari began motioning that Woods had gone over Brown' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky guard Richie Farmer hit two free throws to up the lead to 72-68. Then on the possession, Feldhaus scored on a layup. UMass was never the same again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The technical foul touched off a flood of questions to both Calipari and Pitino during the postgame press conference. There was some question as to whether Calipari stepped out of the coach' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari, who said he cried after the game because the loss meant the end of their careers for his seniors, said, "The officials did not win or lose the game for us. That's like one call out of many. They had the ball, so we did not lose possession of the ball. It cost us 2 points. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The official had his job to do, and I have my job to do. If I step out of the box, he can call a technical." | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I think the game got away from us at that point," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Pitino had been criticized by Iowa State coach Johnny Orr for leaving the coach' | ||
+ | |||
+ | It did, and too many more plays like it led to the UMass loss. As Calipari said later, nothing could take away from the Minutemen' | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/27 Column === | ||
+ | **The Referee Counted Them Out**\\ | ||
+ | By Bob Ryan, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- It was a five-on-five Hagler vs. Leonard. Massachusetts simply gave away the first four or five rounds. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I don't know what happened," | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass didn't go down, but UMass didn't get the referee' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The UMass kids will always have to live with the thought that Kentucky beat them by simply being more like them than they were themselves. Kentucky consists of a future lottery pick named Jamal Mashburn, a pocket Larry named John Pelphrey and a state of mind. UMass has more good athletes. But Kentucky has five decades of basketball' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The only positive occurrence for UMass in the first 12 minutes was the opening tap. Will Herndon, 6 feet 3 inches, outjumped Gimel Martinez, 6-10, by about 5 inches. But both Tony Barbee and Anton Brown missed on the opening possession, and before you could say, " | ||
+ | |||
+ | UMass looked totally confused, disorganized and lost. Barbee dropped two passes out of bounds. Jim McCoy dribbled the ball off his knee. Herndon took a jump shot, of all things. Louis Roe thought he was a guard and, after dribbling upcourt, threw the ball to the tuba player. You looked up at the scoreboard and Kentucky was leading by a ghastly 37-16. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "They shocked us," admitted McCoy. "They came out to play like we usually play. All season long, we've come out diving on the floor and coming up with all the loose balls. But it was just the opposite in the first five minutes." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky dominated every phase. The Wildcats moved without the ball, jammed it inside to the awe-inspiring Mashburn (30 stunning points) and, in general, put on an inside-out clinic. Kentucky was a much better team than the one which beat UMass by 21 back in early December. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "They were aggressive and very, very loose," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Having said all this, let us move to the second half. UMass has bottomed out, regained its poise, gotten into what Calipari later calls a " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Lenny Wirtz is a referee who two decades ago was washed out of the NBA. He is the scourge of the Atlantic Coast Conference but, because of political skills Bill Clinton would envy, finds himself working important games. What he did was call a technical foul on John Calipari which ruined the game. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | Very noble, John. Your lips are sealed and your hands are tied, which is understandable. You can't say what you really feel. But I can. The Lenny Wirtzes of the world have no idea what a referee' | ||
+ | |||
+ | There will be plenty of time to discuss the Big Picture and what a memorable and satisfying season UMass had. Everyone who follows this UMass team knows what an exemplary unit it was and how deserving of that No. 3 seed it proved to be. The point is that, wretched start or not, UMass did claw its way back and deserved an opportunity to win or lose on its own merits. You always want players to decide games, not Little Napoleons such as Lenny Wirtz. | ||
+ | |||
+ | OK, so I'm feeling sorry for myself. I wanted to see this team play again. Instead, I'll have to look at Lenny Wirtz again. This can really be a crummy world. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/27 Mashburn focus === | ||
+ | **Mashburn Turned Game Inside Out**\\ | ||
+ | //NCAA Basketball Tournament// | ||
+ | By Jim Greenidge, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- It was University of Massachusetts coach John Calipari' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Against Kentucky last night in the NCAA East Regional semifinals, Calipari was fidgety about whether his Minutemen could stop Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | It turned out to be every bit the problem he suspected. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In beating UMass, 87-77, at the Spectrum, Kentucky scored 54 points inside the paint. The Wildcats got 32 of their 50 first-half points from that area in holding an 8-point lead at the intermission. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Sophomore forward Jamal Mashburn was particularly bothersome, hitting for 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the field, getting most of his buckets within several feet of the basket. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We had an idea that they would go to the inside game," said Calipari. “It was very obvious that we couldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Mashburn credited the Minutemen with doing a nice job of making sure he knew they were around by constantly leaning on him. "Our offense works perfectly for the high lob," he said. "They tried to front me, but my teammates did a real nice job of lobbing it in to me. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "UMass was a very physical team," added Mashburn. "They beat me up. It's one of the best inside teams I've gone against." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Mashburn, who has a nose for finding the open spot, scored 9 straight Wildcats points in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, giving his team a 17-10 lead with 14:36 remaining in the first half. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari had seen enough and went to the double-down game, something he didn't especially care to do, considering the way Kentucky flings the ball from afar. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The strategy worked for a while. For nearly 6 1/2 minutes -- from 13:57 to 7:29 of the first half -- Mashburn did not score a point. But Kentucky got the margin to 21 (37-16) in hitting 13 of its first 16 field goals. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "UMass did a real nice job of cutting off the lob for a while in the first half," said Mashburn, "but I thought we did a good job of reversing the ball and getting the good shots. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I don't feel that I'm the so-called ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Coach Rick Pitino had filibustered his players during the pregame with talk of how important the inside would be. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I told Mashburn before the game that in order for us to win, he had to be the difference," | ||
+ | |||
+ | You won't find many who would disagree. | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/27 Notebook === | ||
+ | **Erving, Kennedy Get Mixed Reviews**\\ | ||
+ | //NCAA Basketball Tournament / Notebook// | ||
+ | By Joe Burris and Jim Greenidge, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- With 19 minutes left in the second half, the most renowned Minuteman ever made his way through the crowd and received a standing ovation. Julius Erving, who left the University of Massachusetts as its leading single- season scorer, took a spot in the crimson-filled UMass section. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Erving' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | IT FIT HIM TO A T | ||
+ | |||
+ | John Calipari used to get technicals called on him when officials thought he was yelling at them instead of at his players. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In his first year of coaching, in a game at George Washington, he was so upset with the officiating he wanted a technical, then threatened to take off his clothes if he didn't get one. He got down to one of the buttons on his shirt before an official granted his wish. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The controversial call in last night' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | COACHES RIDING RUMOR-GO-ROUND | ||
+ | |||
+ | The latest coaching rumor floating around Philadelphia yesterday had Florida State' | ||
+ | |||
+ | That was countered by another report that Vegas officials were coming to town to interview Calipari. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another rumor had more substance. Rice reportedly is interested in Holy Cross coach George Blaney. | ||
+ | |||
+ | //Mark Blaudshun of the Globe staff contributed to this report.// | ||
+ | |||
+ | === 3/28 Calipari focus === | ||
+ | **Technically, | ||
+ | By Joe Burris, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- John Calipari had one night to sleep on the most frustrating moment of his young coaching career. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Massachusetts coach said yesterday he was no longer embarrassed, | ||
+ | |||
+ | But the feeling of being so close -- of having a chance to advance to the regional final after being down in the first half by 21 points, then having it all snatched away in a heartbeat -- still gnawed at his senses. As he did at Thursday night' | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | "In this game, we didn't get rough until it was too late. We were down 2 with 5:47 left. I'm saying, ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari said he wasn't out of the coaches' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now that the season is over, Calipari said he will look at UMass' recruiting situation, sit down with administrators to discuss his current contract, head to the Final Four, then "go on vacation for a while." | ||
+ | |||
+ | With his name being kicked around as one of the hottest coaches in the business, Calipari' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari said yesterday that he would not concern himself with the vacancy at Oregon right now; he will spend the next few days helping his interested seniors get into pro tryout camps. UMass guard Jim McCoy is already scheduled to attend the Portsmouth (Va.) camp the week after the Final Four. Calipari is hoping forward Will Herndon can also attend. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Efforts to reach Oregon athletic director Bill Byrne yesterday were unsuccessful. | ||
+ | |||
+ | McCoy, who is looking forward to the Portsmouth camp, said the team's season was not tarnished by the disappointing ending. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Springfield Union-News ==== | ||
+ | **Loss a mirror of UMass fortunes**\\ | ||
+ | //Climbing from slow start gave Minutemen respect//\\ | ||
+ | By Ron Chimelis, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Philadelphia - Last night' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Neither Jim McCoy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | McCoy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | But last night' | ||
+ | |||
+ | But like recent history, the game turned into a team's exhausting, inspiring climb from oblivion to a position where some of the biggest names in college basketball noticed and respected the Minutemen. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari knew the post-game questions would center on the technical, and the UMass coach put on an interview performance that may have been his best, considering that he hadn't had to talk about a nationally-televised NCAA Tournament loss before. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "If I stepped out of the coaching box, he had a right to call it," Calipari said in taking responsibility. " | ||
+ | |||
+ | No excuses, even though some confusion existed as to why the technical was called. The talk finally swung to McCoy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "We should have been down 20 at halftime, and we were down eight," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Only the Spectrum appearance of a former UMass star named Julius Erving approached McCoy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The shot made the mostly-UMass crowd think another miracle was possible. Earlier, Kentucky had carved up UMass for a 37-16 lead, and the tournament dream had turned nightmarish. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "The way they play, they come out and stun you," Calipari said. "They throw about seven knockout punches at you. The good thing is, we didn't fall. We almost did, three or four times." | ||
+ | |||
+ | To that point, Kentucky was the better team, the national primetime team, and UMass was simply a good team with a lot of excuses to fold - ankle injuries to McCoy and Anton Brown, an inability to contain an underrated Kentucky inside game led by Jamal Mashburn, and second-half foul trouble to center Harper Williams. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky scored 54 points in the paint, with Mashburn leading all scorers with 30 points. UMass also seemed nervous with a number of short-armed early shots, which was out of character for a team which handled all previous pressure smoothly. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Throughout the NCAA Tournament, the question of when UMass would hit the ceiling of its potential existed, and the Minutemen seemed to be bumping their heads hard on that ceiling last night. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky has often lived by the three-pointer, | ||
+ | |||
+ | " | ||
+ | |||
+ | The first 12 Kentucky points came from inside moves, layups or foul shots. The Wildcats didn't try their first three-pointer until Mashburn connected with the game over six minutes old. | ||
+ | |||
+ | "Mash is going to get his points," | ||
+ | |||
+ | Unfortunately for UMass, Bayno was also right. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari has become a master of the tournament press conference, partly through his wit and partly because he was one of a select number of coaches who didn't seem to mind them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The winning coach goes last, and yesterday was the first time in the NCAAs that Coach Cal had to go first. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In January, UMass shocked Oklahoma at the Civic Center and Calipari went last, but he had to wait around while Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs completed a prior media commitment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Calipari stood patiently on the side that night, because he knew he hadn't gone national yet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now he has, despite last night' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Baltimore Sun ==== | ||
+ | **Kentucky TKOs UMass, 87-77**\\ | ||
+ | By Don Markus, [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | PHILADELPHIA -- Kentucky needed something to get its second wind, to hold off an oncoming express train in ugly red uniforms. The Wildcats had watched their early 21-point lead evaporate, and Massachusetts was charging hard, trailing by two with a little less than six minutes left. | ||
+ | |||
+ | That's when Lennie Wirtz, who was officiating basketball games before John Calipari was born, stepped in and stopped the Minutemen cold. He called a controversial technical against the Massachusetts coach, and Kentucky was able to breathe again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Starting with the technical on Calipari -- Wirtz was 50 feet away from the UMass bench when he called it -- the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run and broke away for an 87-77 victory in the NCAA East Regional semifinals at The Spectrum. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Richie Farmer made both technical free throws, and when Kentucky inbounded the ball, John Pelphrey fed Deron Feldhaus for a layup to make it 74-68. | ||
+ | |||
+ | After forcing a Massachusetts turnover, the Wildcats worked the same play, and this time, the Feldhaus layup pushed Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | The victory put Kentucky (29-6) into tomorrow night' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Although Wirtz certainly played his part in the outcome, Kentucky center Jamal Mashburn played an ever larger part. He tore apart the Minutemen' | ||
+ | |||
+ | It didn't appear that the Minutemen would make it much of a game. They missed their first four shots and Kentucky made its first eight. They missed 13 of their first 18 shots and the Wildcats made 14 of 19, creating a 37-16 Kentucky bulge. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Massachusetts had all kinds of problems with Mashburn, who scored three times inside in the opening minutes, went outside to hit a three, then went back inside. Eventually, the shots began to fall for the Minutemen and Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | After a ferocious rebound dunk by freshman center Andre Riddick gave the Wildcats a commanding 44-24 lead, the Minutemen made a run. They began hitting their shots, but more importantly, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Trailing 44-28 with a little more than four minutes left, Massachusetts went to the zone. Mashburn powered in for a couple of post-up baskets, but Kentucky seemed to be standing around. The Minutemen started running and two jumpers, one by Tony Barbee and the other by Jim McCoy, cut Kentucky' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Finally, after a layup by Junior Braddy gave the Wildcats a 50-39 lead, the teams traded turnovers in the closing seconds. Taking the ball inbounds under his own basket with 1.4 seconds left, Massachusetts forward William Herndon passed leisurely to McCoy, whose two-handed, 70-foot push shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The shot sent the crowd into an uproar and the Minutemen into their locker room at halftime with renewed confidence. After being outplayed and outshot for most of the half, Massachusetts was only down by eight at halftime. And Kentucky, which might have been thinking ahead to tomorrow' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kentucky saw its lead evaporate even more in the opening minute of the second half. It was down to four, 50-46, before the Wildcats stretched it back to 58-48 on a drive by Farmer with 16 minutes left. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Twice, the Minutemen got within four, but they would miss open jumpers or wouldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | And Mashburn, who scored 17 points in the first half, continued to give Massachusetts problems inside. He got fouled going up after rebounding a three- point miss by Pelphrey and made both free throws for a 64-58 lead. Then, after McCoy and Herndon missed for the Minutemen, he posted up for another short jumper to push the Wildcats ahead by eight, 66-58. | ||
+ | |||
+ | When Massachusetts answered with a pair of free throws by Herndon and a drive by freshman reserve Louis Roe, Mashburn simply moved down in the lane, called for the ball and fingerolled it in for the basket. But the Minutemen wouldn' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== The Patriot News (Central PA) ==== | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== UMassHoops.com opinion ==== | ||
+ | //March 26, 2012// | ||
+ | |||
+ | The technical foul call on UMass coach John Calipari remains a highly controversial subject within the UMass fan community. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the first half, the Wildcats had built a 21-point lead (37-16 at the 7:33 mark), and maintained a 20-point lead (44-24) at the 5:23 mark. UMass began chipping away, and cut the deficit to just 9 (48-39) with 1:19 to play in the half. With McCoy' | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the second half, leading up to the technical, Kentucky maintained their lead, and it stood at 8 (66-58) with 8:52 to play. UMass went on a run of their own and the Kentucky lead fell to just 2-points (70-68). | ||
+ | |||
+ | Watch the portion of the game highlights video, starting at the technical coverage: [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Look at this freeze-frame of the moment before Wirtz whistled Calipari for the technical foul. Click for a larger image.\\ | ||
+ | {{ http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | As heard in that highlight video, Calipari states that he didn't think he was out of the coaching box, and mentions the floor design of the Spectrum. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The asymmetrical design and color scheme of the Spectrum basketball court was quite unusual. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Also, the rainbow-colored pattern on the floor' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Finally, as Wirtz makes the call, he is standing approximately 70 feet away from Calipari, based on court dimensions and the position of each of the men at the time.((http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Based on those three factors (uneven alignment of sideline color pattern, usage of white lines to separate color scheme, and distance between Wirtz and Calipari), it is reasonable to assume that Wirtz could have mistakenly thought Calipari was out of the coaching box, when in actuality, he was inside the lines. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Regardless of whether or not call was correct, the game went on. Kentucky coach Rick Pitino sent Richie Farmer, a career 83.8% FT shooter, to the line for the technical free throws, and Farmer hit both. That began a 6-0 run (76-68) for Kentucky by the 5:08 mark, and an 11-2 run (81-70) by the 1:26 mark. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Many UMass fans will argue that the call robbed the Minutemen of the momentum they had built, and Kentucky took advantage of the shift. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Note: According to the UK fan web site BigBlueHistory.net, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Other Content ==== | ||
+ | *[[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Box Score ===== | ||
+ | ^ ^^^ TOTAL ^^^ 3-PTS ^^^ ^^^ REBOUNDS | ||
+ | ^MASSACHUSETTS^ ^Min^FG^FGA^Pct^FG^FGA^Pct^FT^FTA^Pct^Off^Def^Tot^PF^FO^A^TO^Blk^Stl^Pts^ | ||
+ | |Barbee, Tony|F|33|4|10|.400|2|5|.400|0|1|.000|1|5|6|2|0|1|4|0|0|10| | ||
+ | |Herndon, William|F|37|6|8|.750|0|0|--|3|4|.750|1|1|2|4|0|3|1|2|1|15| | ||
+ | |Williams, Harper|C|18|3|7|.429|0|0|--|2|2|1.000|2|2|4|5|1|3|3|1|0|8| | ||
+ | |Brown, Anton|G|36|5|8|.625|2|2|1.000|2|2|1.000|1|0|1|2|0|5|1|0|1|14| | ||
+ | |McCoy, Jim|G|34|7|15|.467|1|1|1.000|6|7|.857|2|0|2|1|0|0|3|0|4|21| | ||
+ | |Roe, Lou| |28|2|6|.333|0|0|--|5|6|.833|4|3|7|2|0|2|3|0|2|9| | ||
+ | |Robinson, Kennard| |2|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0| | ||
+ | |Kellogg, Derek| |4|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0| | ||
+ | |Malloy, Jerome| |8|0|1|.000|0|1|.000|0|0|--|0|0|0|2|0|0|0|0|0|0| | ||
+ | |TEAM REBOUNDS||||||||||||1|4|5| ||||||| | ||
+ | |TOTALS| |200|27|55|.491|5|9|.556|18|22|.818|12|15|27|18|1|14|16|3|8|77| | ||
+ | |First half|||14|29|.483|4|5|.800|10|12|.833| |||||||||42| | ||
+ | |Second half|||13|26|.500|1|4|.250|8|10|.800| |||||||||35| | ||
+ | |||
+ | |Points off turnovers|19| | ||
+ | |Second chance points|13| | ||
+ | |Points in the paint|34| | ||
+ | |Deadball rebounds|4| | ||
+ | |||
+ | ^ ^^^ TOTAL ^^^ 3-PTS ^^^ ^^^ REBOUNDS | ||
+ | ^KENTUCKY^ ^Min^FG^FGA^Pct^FG^FGA^Pct^FT^FTA^Pct^Off^Def^Tot^PF^FO^A^TO^Blk^Stl^Pts^ | ||
+ | |Mashburn, Jamal|F|37|11|15|.733|1|2|.500|7|9|.778|4|2|6|3|0|0|3|1|2|30| | ||
+ | |Pelphrey, John|F|30|7|13|.538|1|4|.250|3|3|1.000|3|1|4|4|0|4|0|1|4|18| | ||
+ | |Martinez, Gimel|C|13|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|0|--|1|3|4|4|0|3|1|1|0|0| | ||
+ | |Woods, Sean|G|28|4|6|.667|0|1|.000|4|4|1.000|1|1|2|2|0|4|4|0|0|12| | ||
+ | |Farmer, Richie|G|20|2|4|.500|0|2|.000|3|4|.750|0|3|3|1|0|2|1|0|0|7| | ||
+ | |Feldhaus, Deron| |30|5|10|.500|1|4|.250|0|0|--|1|2|3|1|0|1|2|0|1|11| | ||
+ | |[[ford_travis|Ford, | ||
+ | |Brown, Dale| |20|2|7|.286|0|2|.000|1|3|.333|1|3|4|2|0|2|1|0|0|5| | ||
+ | |Riddick, Andre| |2|1|2|.500|0|0|--|0|0|--|1|0|1|1|0|0|0|0|0|2| | ||
+ | |Braddy, Junior| |5|1|1|1.000|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|0|0|2| | ||
+ | |Timerlake, Aminu| |3|0|1|.000|0|0|--|0|0|--|0|1|1|2|0|0|0|1|0|0| | ||
+ | |TEAM REBOUNDS||||||||||||0|0|0|||||||| | ||
+ | |TOTALS||200|33|59|.559|3|15|.200|18|23|.783|13|17|30|20|0|19|14|4|7|87| | ||
+ | |First half|||21|31|.677|3|7|.429|5|7|.714||||||||||50| | ||
+ | |Second half|||12|28|.429|0|8|.000|13|16|.813||||||||||37| | ||
+ | |||
+ | |Points off turnovers|23| | ||
+ | |Second chance points|14| | ||
+ | |Points in the paint|54| | ||
+ | |Deadball rebounds|2| | ||
+ | |||
+ | |Score by Periods|1st|2nd|OT1|OT2|OT3|Final| | ||
+ | |MASSACHUSETTS|42|35| |||77| | ||
+ | |KENTUCKY|50|37| |||87| | ||
+ | |||
+ | |Attendance|N/ | ||
+ | |Officials|Lennie Wirtz, Jim Stupin, Tom Rucker| | ||
+ | |Technical Fouls|1 (UM: Coach John Calipari, 5:47 of 2nd)| | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Play by Play ===== | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== External Links ===== | ||
+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{tag>" |