Refusing to lose

Sporting News, The, Feb 12, 1996 by Paul McMullen

Massachusetts doesn't have a date with destiny. At least that's what John Calipari wants you to believe, but he doesn't always stick to the one-day-at-a-time script. Not as long as the Minutemen maintain a perfect record, and Calipari and his players keep dropping references to the last game of the season.

Top-ranked UMass shrugs when 38-0 is mentioned, but that's the record it could have on April Fools' Day, when the NCAA title game will be played at the Meadowlands.

"We're not playing to go undefeated," says Calipari, whose troops were 21-0 entering the week. "We're playing to win a national title."

Calipari, who in eight seasons has taken UMass from the bottom of the Atlantic 10 to the top of the rankings, may not be dwelling on perfection, but he isn't ignoring it either. He has consulted Geno Auriemma, who coached the Connecticut women to an unbeaten record and national title last season, and every feel-good guru this side of Dr. Stuwt Smalley.

"If you worry about what's happening down the road, it takes you away from what makes you happy today," he likes to say, but the possibilities - and all the pitfalls they have maneuvered through - are what make the Minutemen so intriguing.

It has been 20 years since a Division I team went unbeaten. A thinner Bob Knight coached Scott May, Kent Benson and Quinn Buckner to perfection in 1975-76. In 1990-91, UNLV was the last team to finish a regular season unbeaten, but the Runnin' Rebels were denied a repeat NCAA title by Duke in a national semifinal game.

Are the comparisons a burden? Wouldn't it be better to lose now and deflate some of the pressure on the Minutemen before the NCAA Tournament?

"People have said, `Don't you think it would be better to have a loss?" Calipari says. "We've been down or tied eight times at the half. ... We've been tested. That UNLV team was winning every game by 25. There's a big difference."

"We're not a dominant team. We just find ways to win."

UMass did just that in escaping Xavier with a 78-74 overtime victory on Sunday, the Minutemen's third overtime game in their last nine. UMass seems to come up with its best when it plays an extra five minutes. It has won its last 10 overtime games dating to the 1991 NIT.

The Minutemen made the East Regional final last season, but they lost Lou Roe, the A-10 Player of the Year, and were ranked no higher than sixth and as low as 15th (by ISE Sporting News) in the Top 25 of preseason publications.

UMass has adhered to its motto of "Refuse to Lose" through a series of adverse situations, starting with the opener against preseason No. 1 Kentucky, when freshman guard Charlton Clarke broke his right foot. As a result, the "Puerto Rican Express" backcourt of Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso has played massive minutes.

The Minutemen were 6-0 and ranked No. 3 when word broke December 13 that five players planned to sue the university over a 1994 Boston Globe story in which someone on campus leaked confidential information about grades.

The UMass athletic department was rocked by the death January 10 of swimmer Greg Menton from a congenital heart problem. Four days later, a sense of dread spread when the Minutemen saw Marcus Camby, the leading candidate for national player of the year, lose consciousness for 10 minutes before they were to play at St. Bonaventure.

Donta Bright the savvy senior forward, rushed into the locker room to alert the coaches. Bright is from Baltimore's Dunbar High, which also produced Reggie Lewis. Sixth man Tyrone Weeks grew up in North Philadelphia, which also turned out Hank Gathers. Lewis and Gathers each collapsed on the court prior to dying of heart problems. As Calipari accompanied Camby to a nearby hospital, the Minutemen cried in the locker room, then went out and won by 13.

Four days of extensive testing ruled out heart problems for Camby, but didn't provide a clue to his collapse, other than his unhealthy propensity for junk food.

Camby's post presence was the difference in many of UMass' non-conference victories, particularly against Wake Forest's Tim Duncan and Memphis' Lorenzen Wright, but the Minutemen believe they got better in the four games he missed.

Camby still was being tested and observed at the UMass Medical Center when Bright dropped a career-high 32 points on Rhode Island. Travieso tallied a career-high 33 in the next game, against Duquesne. The two combined for 53 in an overtime victory at Pitt.

"Marcus going down was like an inspiration to our whole team," says Padilla, the point guard who is averaging nearly seven assists. "It meant a lot to see the others step up. After he came back, they kept playing the same way. We don't expect Marcus to carry us the whole game.

"If Donta and Dana (Dingle, the other starting forward) make the offensive plays and Marcus is free is to do his thing, I don't think anybody can really stop us."

All of the elements were present in a recent 24-point pounding of Temple, only the second time the Minutemen had beaten the Owls on their home court.