PREPSEASON NIT : UMass Takes on Kansas

The seeds for Friday night’s improbable Preseason National Invitation Tournament final were sown in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday’s semis in the form of some good-natured trash talk between old neighbors.

Massachusetts swingman Dana Dingle said North Carolina forward Brian Reese, who grew up near Dingle in the Bronx, and a couple of other Tar Heels who know Dingle, expressed to him their extreme doubts about UMass’ chances against the nation’s top-ranked team. It happened Tuesday at the players’ dinner at Tavern on the Green, and again at Wednesday’s shootaround.

“They were laughing,” Dingle said, “like we were a joke or something.”

In fairness, Carolina’s version was unavailable, but what mattered was that Dingle perceived a lack of respect. And near midnight, he exacted revenge, scoring the first six points of overtime to spark UMass to a 91-86 victory and a spot opposite Kansas in the final at Madison Square Garden at approximately 9:30. North Carolina faces No. 9 Minnesota in the consolation game at 7.

“We have attitude,” Dingle said in explaining Wednesday’s victory, in which No. 18 UMass (3-0) recovered from an 11-0 deficit. “We play like wildmen, like warriors. It’s never over.”

Like Dingle, Coach John Calipari and forward Lou Roe said they were inspired by doubters. Calipari cited critics in the broadcast media, and Roe’s beef was with spectators whom he said laughed at the Minutemen when they came into the building.

“It (ticked) me off,” Roe said after recording 28 points and 14 rebounds.

No one is likely to laugh Friday night, least of all No. 6 Kansas (3-0), which could be vulnerable for the same reasons North Carolina was. Kansas’ style and personnel are similar to Carolina’s, a reflection of the fact Kansas Coach Roy Williams worked as an assistant under Dean Smith from 1978-88. The Jayhawks are taller, but UMass is quicker.

“Their quickness to the ball, I really was impressed with that,” Smith said after UMass outhustled Carolina to 28 offensive rebounds, nine by Roe.

The quickness-over-size factor will be even more important for UMass because it expects to be without 6-foot-11 freshman center Marcus Camby, who suffered what preliminarily has been diagnosed as a contusion to the right knee Wednesday. So Jeff Meyer, a 7-2 junior who averaged 1.8 points last season, must contend with Kansas’ 7-1 1/2 Greg Ostertag, who had a fine game in the Jayhawks’ 75-71 semifinal victory over Minnesota.

“They’re a lot like Carolina: big, strong, crash the boards,” Dingle said. “You know, Roy Williams coached under Dean Smith a long time.”

We know, and now we won’t have to see that story line trotted out again, as it was before the North Carolina-Kansas matches in the 1991 and ’93 Final Fours. Before the North Carolina-UMass game, Williams said he would root for the Tar Heels, but Smith, who prefers not to face his former assistants, said after he lost, “Our team doesn’t have to go against Roy’s team, that’s the only good thing.”