Camby Sits, but UMass Doesn’t Stop

Leave it to Massachusetts to create suspense--and then thrive from it.

With All-American center Marcus Camby starting the game on the bench for disciplinary reasons, the Minutemen jumped on Arkansas and cruised to a 79-63 victory in an East Regional semifinal Thursday night before 34,614 at the Georgia Dome.

Massachusetts Coach John Calipari said Camby did not start because he was late for the team bus. Camby entered the game with 18:47 left in the first half.

“I told him I didn’t want him hanging around the hotel all day,” Calipari said. “I told him to get out and go to the mall, and then he got stuck in traffic. It was kind of my fault because I told him to get out of the hotel, but I told him I couldn’t start him because he was late and he understood.”

Not that it really mattered.

With Tyrone Weeks starting in place of Camby, the Minutemen raced to a 13-0 lead. They were never threatened in the first half and the lead swelled to 71-47 on two free throws by Camby with 5:49 remaining in the game.

“Really, the traffic was just bad,” said Camby, who had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Top-seeded Massachusetts (34-1) plays second-seeded Georgetown (29-7) for the East Regional title Saturday at 3 p.m. Georgetown defeated Texas Tech, 98-90, in the other semifinal.

Weeks had 16 points and seven rebounds and guard Carmelo Travieso, who injured his back before a news conference Wednesday, scored 14 points.

Travieso, who tumbled off a four-foot-high podium, showed no ill effects.

“I thought he would be fine,” Calipari said. “The only way you’re hurt [at this stage of the season] is if a bone is sticking through your skin.”

Guard Pat Bradley led 12th-seeded Arkansas (20-13) with 15 points.

Arkansas shot 34% (22 of 64), including only three of 15 from beyond the three-point arc. About the only thing the Razorbacks did well with the ball in their hands was shoot free throws (16 of 18), which had been one of their major weaknesses.

“This team made more progress than any team I’ve ever had,” Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. “They had more to overcome than any team I’ve ever had.”

This is the second time Massachusetts has qualified for a regional title game. Oklahoma State defeated Massachusetts, 68-54, in the East Regional title game last season at East Rutherford, N.J.

“I know no one expected us to beat Georgetown before today and that probably hasn’t changed,” Calipari said. “All season long we’ve handled adversity and pressure, but all I keep reading is that we’re not going to win. But we’re going to show up, I assure you.”

Richardson said Arkansas did all it could, but Massachusetts was just too good.

“They had a great game and dominated on both sides of the floor,” Richardson said. “They had a tremendous game.”

And who does Richardson, who has played in the last two NCAA title games, like in the Georgetown-Massachusetts matchup?

“I think it’ll be pretty good,” he said. “I still think Camby is the best player in the country. It will definitely be a great game.”