Kentucky, Umass Primed Wildcats Favored By 8 Points Despite Early Loss To Minutemen
It was just four months ago that Massachusetts opened its season by knocking off No. 1 Kentucky.
Since then, a lot has changed for both teams, which meet again today in the NCAA semifinals.
“That was early in the season and now it’s two teams that have gotten a lot better,” Kentucky’s Tony Delk said Friday. “I was at the point then and everyone was out of position. We were trying to get our rotation down. They have gotten better because of a tough schedule.”
Top-ranked Massachusetts (35-1) won that Nov. 28 meeting 92-82 behind the 32 points, nine rebounds and five blocks of All-America center Marcus Camby.
“I didn’t think we did a good job on Camby,” Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said, “but I’ve watched the tape three times and we did a good job. He’s just a great basketball player.”
It was far from a perfect effort for the Minutemen that night at Auburn Hills, Mich., in the Great Eight tournament. UMass committed 23 turnovers against Kentucky’s pressure.
The number of mistakes dropped all season as the backcourt of Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso jelled into one of the best guard tandems in the country. They were at their best in the regionals, combining for just 12 turnovers against the pressure of Arkansas and Georgetown.
“The Kentucky game was the first game of the season, and we were just trying to get used to each other,” Padilla said. “Now we know what we have to do and it showed against Arkansas and Georgetown.”
Pitino said the first two games - the Wildcats opened with a 96-84 victory over Maryland - set the tone for the changes that changed everything.
“We got down big against Maryland, and then there was UMass,” he said. “It was obvious we were not playing the right people together and we made a change, putting Anthony Epps at the point, and we let Tony Delk concentrate on scoring. Now it’s been a great situation as far as the cohesiveness of the team, and that’s where we’ve evolved.”
Kentucky (32-2) didn’t lose again until the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game against Mississippi State, which meets Syracuse in the other Final Four game. It wasn’t just a 27-game winning streak. It was a romp through the regular season with an average margin of victory of 23 points. That may explain why UMass is an eight-point underdog.
“We like being underdogs,” Camby said. “We’ve been underdogs all year long. They’ve been beating people by a lot. Maybe that’s why they’re the favorite.”
Kentucky center Mark Pope isn’t buying into that theory.
“Gambling is like politics - I don’t understand it,” he said.