Table of Contents
January 18, 1994 - UMass vs. DePaul
- Season: 1993-94
- Date: Tuesday, January 18, 1994
- Opponent: DePaul
- Start Time: ?
- Site: Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont IL
- Special Event: none
- Television: WGN
- Radio: WHMP
- Result: DePaul 78, UMass (#6) 76
| Previous Game | Next Game |
|---|---|
| vs St. Bonaventure (1/15) | vs Rutgers (1/20) |
Preview
Chicago Tribune
UMass, Camby hope to intimidate De Paul
By Bill Jauss, The Chicago Tribune Staff Writer, January 18, 1994
John Calipari, coach of the No. 6-ranked University of Massachusetts Minutemen, talked Monday about three gifted 7-foot freshman centers: Rasheed Wallace of North Carolina, Rashard Griffith of Wisconsin, and Calipari's own Marcus Camby.
Rasheed or Rashard? Calipari will take his own man, thank you. And that spells trouble for De Paul's struggling Blue Demons.
Camby, averaging 10.6 points, seven rebounds and 4.3 blocks a game, will play for UMass (13-1) Tuesday night when it tries to deal De Paul (10-3) a third straight loss at the Horizon.
Camby isn't Calipari's best player. That is veteran 6-7 forward Lou Roe, who averages 21.8 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. Another veteran back from last year's 10-point victory over De Paul is guard Derek Kellogg, who dished out 10 assists against the Demons. UMass also has 7-2 Jeff Meyer, who played well in a victory over North Carolina.
But Camby is the new force in Amherst, Mass., and his coach believes that, as a shot-blocking defensive intimidator, he can turn out to be better than either Rasheed or Rashard.
“Marcus is not as physical as Rasheed or Rashard,” Calipari said before his team braved the frigid trip to the Horizon for a shoot-around. “But for skill and quickness and speed on defense, I'll take Marcus. He can block shots, not when they're in the shooters' hands, but after they leave the hands.”
UMass defeated North Carolina in the Preseason NIT and lost its only game to Kansas in the tournament final. Kansas holds a Horizon victory over De Paul along with the Demons' last two opponents, Marquette and St. Louis.
“I know De Paul is good,” Calipari said. “Ninety percent of the teams in the country would lose to Kansas, Marquette and St. Louis. I like Tom Kleinschmidt. He was as good as any player we played last year.”
Kleinschmidt scored 32 points in De Paul's 79-69 loss at UMass last year. Calipari cited similar improvement between Kleinschmidt and Roe from last year to this.
“Both of them got stronger and bettered their games by playing tough opposition in the summer,” the UMass coach said.
His teams, Calipari said, usually feature balanced scoring from five double-digit scorers averaging from 11-17 points a game. This year's team has four double-digit scorers, led by Roe at 21.8.
“Lou's scoring more points than any player I coached,” Calipari said.
Recap
Chicago Tribune
De Paul upsets UMass
By Bill Jauss, The Chicago Tribune Staff Writer, January 19, 1994
On a night when the wind chill outside the Horizon plunged to 60 below zero, De Paul's Tom Kleinschmidt turned into a human heater.
Like a flamethrower, Kleinschmidt heated up his teammates on the floor, the subs on the bench, coach Joey Meyer and the crowd of 7,199 fans who braved the cold Tuesday night to see one of De Paul's best-played games in years.
Led by Kleinschmidt's 29 points, De Paul (11-3) snapped a losing streak at two games and stopped Massachusetts' winning streak at 10 by edging the No. 6-ranked Minutemen 78-76.
“Kleinschmidt is a 250-pound bear,” said UMass coach Mike Calipari, padding 32 pounds on Kleinschmidt. “He beat us alone tonight.”
“We needed this one bad,” said an emotional Kleinschmidt after Lou Roe's last-second shot for a tie and overtime banged off the iron. “We never gave up. I got all pumped up. We heard the crowd, and I appreciated it.”
When small defenders tried to guard Kleinschmidt, a 6-foot-5-inch former Gordon Tech star, he drove for baskets or free throws. When 6-7 superstar Roe switched to him late in the game, Kleinschmidt drillled three treys to ignite a spurt from a 63-56 deficit.
When Kleinschmidt was double-teamed with 24.6 seconds to play, he delivered his sixth and most vital assist of the night-a pass to Belefia Parks, who knocked down the three-pointer that broke a 73-73 tie.
Then, with 14.5 seconds on the clock, Kleinschmidt snared his fifth and most important rebound of the night, drew a foul and sank both free thrws for a seemingly safe 78-73 cushion.
But the Minutemen (13-2) wouldn't quit. Roe took it to the hole for the three-point play that made it 78-76. Brandon Cole missed two free throws, giving Roe his last shot at the tie.
“Give Kleinschmidt credit,” said Roe, who led his team with 17 points. “He is a good player.”
Kleinschmidt took only six shots in his seven-point first half. He scored 13, including all three treys, in the final 10 minutes.
“It was crunch time, and I just kept putting the ball up,” he said. “We finally played our first 40-minute game.”
Meyer was more animated than he's been all season, and the bench players caught the fever.
“I told my assistants, `You're going to see one crazy idiot,' ” said Meyer. “I wanted the players to see my emotion. Kleinschmidt was a big-time player. He made great shots every time we needed them.
“I'm proud of this team. People questioned its heart. This is a solid Top 10 team we beat.”
Kleinschmidt said the team held a meeting Monday night to “define our roles and fire up.”
The intensity was evident early. Just 47 seconds into the game, Kleinschmidt went out from an elbow to the head by Donta Bright. He stayed on the bench only 40 seconds.
“It wasn't intentional,” Kleinschmidt said. “He went for the ball.”
Kris Hill matched Roe's nine-rebound total as the Demons won the battle off the glass 39-35, despite the Minutemen's 7-foot Marcus Cumby and 7-2 Jeff Meyer.
Freshman Macrus Singler scored nine, Bo Bowden eight, Brian Hill seven and Brian Currie and Parks six each. De Paul realized 28 points from its non-starters.
“Kleinschmidt had his great night, but the whole team was intense,” said Meyer. “Even the walk-ons. You could feel it on our bench.”
Other content
