Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 27, 1992 TAG: 9203270249
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Medium
The Minutemen failed to show for the first 12 1/2 minutes against Kentucky on Thursday night in the East Regional.
The third-seeded Minutemen, in their first-ever "Sweet 16," had lost to Kentucky by 21 points early in the season. This time, Massachusetts fell 21 down, 37-16, with 7:30 left in the half and couldn't recover.
Kentucky, restored to NCAA good graces after a painful probation, won 87-77 and advanced to the regional final against Duke on Saturday night at the Spectrum.
UMass (30-5) came in with a 14-game winning streak and a chip on its shoulder, complaining about a lack of respect.
The way the Minutemen started, they not only didn't gain respect, they lost a lot.
They couldn't defend, rebound, handle the ball or handle Jamal Mashburn. "Monster Mash" had 11 quick points and 17 by halftime. Kentucky made its first nine shots, seven of them layups.
Once UMass settled down, it scored repeatedly when it was able to beat the Kentucky press.
The Minutemen worked their way back into contention and thrilled the crowd of18,200 when Jim McCoy, their season-long scoring leader, swished a one-handed, 70-footer at the halftime buzzer.
That trimmed Kentucky's margin to 50-42.
The comeback by the champions of the Atlantic-10 Conference enabled them to avoid being embarrassed. But the early stage fright proved fatal as Kentucky (29-6) reached the regional final for the 21st time.
UMass stayed close, controlling the inside play, and pulled to 60-58 on William Herndon's stickback with 12:18 left.
Shortly after that, UMass center Harper Williams, the biggest Minuteman at 6 feet 7, picked up his fourth foul, and Mashburn promptly scored six straight points and finished with a game-high 30.
The real killer, however, came just after Anton Brown's 3-pointer with 6:13 to play trimmed the Wildcats' lead to 70-68.
With Kentucky in control at the opposite end, official Lenny Wirtz whistled UMass coach John Calipari for a technical for being out of the coaching box.
It brought back memories of last year's Final four, when referee Pete Pavia called an ejecting technical on North Carolina's Dean Smith for the same violation.
Richie Farmer made both free throws, Deron Feldhaus got a layup on the resulting possession and after a UMass turnover, Feldhaus broke free for a layup. It was 76-68.
Massachusetts never got closer than six after that.
"Everything circles around the technical," Calipari said. "The officials have a job to do, and I have a job to do. If I stepped out of the box, then I'll leave it at that. But we lost this game in the first 12 minutes." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB