UMass Reaches the Next Level

Top-ranked Massachusetts wasn’t in the mood to cut down the nets Saturday night.

Sure, the Minutemen are excited about their first trip to the Final Four, but that’s not the ultimate goal.

“This team expects more and wants more,” Coach John Calipari said after the Minutemen routed Georgetown, 86-62, to win the NCAA East Regional. “Sure, we’ll celebrate some tonight, but we want everyone to know this is just one step toward the final goal.”

UMass (35-1), which has the logo “Refuse to Lose” on its warmup suits, got 22 points from All-American Marcus Camby and an in-your-face defensive job by Carmelo Travieso, who shut down Georgetown All-American Allen Iverson.

With their cheerleaders chanting, “We want the Wildcats!,” the Minutemen advanced to play Kentucky in the national semifinals next Saturday at the Meadowlands. UMass is one of only two teams to beat the Wildcats, who defeated Wake Forest, 83-63, to win the Midwest Regional.

UMass, after being upset by Oklahoma State in the East Regional final last season, appears unwilling to accept anything less than a national title this year. After the victory, the Minutemen refrained from the traditional net-cutting ceremony.

Once the players had left the court wearing Final Four T-shirts, the cheerleaders removed the nets, which undoubtedly will take a place in the school archives.

Iverson scored 23 points for Georgetown (29-8), but he was largely ineffective except for a five-minute spurt at the end of the first half that accounted for 11 of his points. Iverson finished six of 21 shooting from the field, though he did hit four three-pointers.

“I gave it all I had and left everything I had on the court, and that’s all I can ask for,” Iverson said. “I take my hat off to them.”

It was a virtuoso effort by Travieso against one of the quickest players in the country, although he was equally as quick to credit his teammates for their help in shutting down Iverson.

“I just tried to make the game real hard for him,” Travieso said. “I take pride in my defense.”

His offense wasn’t too bad, either. Travieso scored 20 points and loosened up the inside for Camby with six three-pointers.

Camby broke the game open after UMass led only 38-34 at halftime. He scored the first three baskets of the second half and also contributed a block on Georgetown center Othella Harrington.

“I took it upon myself to make things happen,” said Camby, who had seven rebounds and three blocks despite shuffling in and out of the lineup much of the second half after picking up his fourth foul.

Iverson, meanwhile, was having a terrible time against Travieso, who showed no ill effects from a sore back suffered when he fell from a podium at a Wednesday news conference.

Iverson, who came in as the tournament’s leading scorer at 29.1 points a game, missed his first seven shots of the second half before finally hitting a three-pointer with 8:46 left in the game after Travieso went to the bench for a brief rest.

“I tried to play him honest,” Travieso said. “I didn’t try to go for steals and I wanted to contest every shot. Sometimes I would take chances, but not the whole game, because he’s so quick.”

Camby, who picked up his fourth foul with 12:34 left in the game, managed to avoid another infraction and punctuated the rout with a thunderous dunk with three minutes to go.

Calipari stopped to talk with Camby as the center stretched on the court before the second half.

“All I asked him to do was play with more emotion, more passion,” Calipari said. “He’s our All-American, and obviously the other guys feed off him.”

Georgetown, trying to return to the Final Four for the first time since 1985, had no one to fill in when Iverson went cold. Harrington, who scored 23 points in a regional semifinal victory over Texas Tech, was held to 13.

UMass, however, showed off all of its weapons in handing Georgetown its worst defeat of the year. Among the other starters, Donta Bright had 17 points, Dana Dingle 10 and Edgar Padilla 8.

After UMass built a 31-17 lead, Georgetown went on a 17-7 run to close out the first half. During that spurt, Iverson hit two three-pointers and converted a three-point play.

He looked ready to assume his traditional role of carrying the Hoyas, like he did with a 32-point performance in the regional semifinals.

“I’ve been put in that situation before,” Iverson said. “It’s just up to me to come through.”

This time, he didn’t. When Iverson’s hot hand didn’t carry over to the second half, the Hoyas went 5:46 before they finally scored a basket. By then, UMass had a 53-38 lead.