DAILY REPORT

This time, Marcus Camby caught the bus on time.

After Camby arrived late for the team bus Thursday night, Massachusetts Coach John Calipari benched his All-American center for the start of the East Regional semifinal game against Arkansas. Camby said he got stuck in traffic while returning to the team hotel from a shopping mall.

Camby entered the game 1:13 into the half and had 15 points and seven rebounds as Massachusetts cruised to a 79-63 victory.

On Friday, Calipari made sure Camby wouldn’t be late boarding the team bus to go interviews with reporters at the Georgia Dome. Calipari simply didn’t allow any field trips a day before the regional final against Georgetown.

“The rumor that Marcus was late today isn’t true,” Calipari joked. “I just made sure I got on after him so he wouldn’t be the last one on.”

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As long as officials call games consistently, they won’t hear a peep from Calipari, he says. But consistency, of course, is a matter of opinion.

And it is Calipari’s opinion that Thursday night’s Georgetown-Texas Tech regional semifinal game, which almost matched a regional record with 59 fouls, was called consistently and well.

“All those fouls were called because Georgetown is very aggressive,” Calipari said. “Those fouls were called because they were committed.”

Texas Tech committed 35 fouls and Georgetown 24. UCLA and Seattle twice set the record for combined fouls in a regional game with 60, in 1956 and 1964. The Georgetown-Texas Tech game lasted 2 hours 40 minutes.

“I never thought that game was going to end,” Hoya Coach John Thompson said.

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Jason Martin has the answer.

The question is, how should Hoya guard Allen Iverson be guarded? The All-American’s performance has been the talk of the regional.

Martin, Texas Tech’s point guard, saw Iverson up close for the first time Thursday night. He left impressed after the Hoyas’ 98-90 victory.

“First of all, you don’t stop him, control him, slow him down or anything like that,” said Martin, a former standout at Manual Arts High. “You just have to hope he’s not in his rhythm.”

And his advice for Massachusetts guard Carmelo Travieso, who will probably guard Iverson in today’s regional final?

“Get help,” Martin said. “A lot of help.”