UMassacred

Penn dominated in every phase AMHERST, Mass. -- The three-pointer may be the great equalizer in college basketball, but a big man like Lou Roe can tip any scale. Roe, who hurt the Quakers two years ago in the NCAA tournament, did it again as top-ranked Massachusetts blew out No. 21 Penn, 93-60, to post its 38th consecutive on-campus win and most lopsided victory in 28 games at the Mullins Center. "As good as he was, I wasn't surprised by it," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "He's a first-round draft choice and I think he proved that this evening, not that we defended him greatly. He's strong, he's athletic, he's very intelligent playing the game, he's relentless as a rebounder. There were a number of chances we had to keep him off the boards and didn't do so." Roe (23 points, 10 rebounds) had plenty of Penn's forced shots to rebound. The Quakers' patented treys weren't falling -- a tribute to the Minutemen's tenacious perimeter defense -- so Penn (8-2) fell hard instead. The Quakers' step up in class of opponent resulted in a classic blowout which Penn hasn't been on this side of since successive losses to Temple and St. Joseph's two years ago. It was Penn's worst defeat since a 102-69 loss to Miami (Fla.) Dec. 29, 1988. Two years ago UMass struggled to beat the scrappy young Quakers, 54-50, in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Syracuse, N.Y. Penn has matured greatly since then, and was ranked No. 21 is this past week's Associated Press poll. The Minutemen's No. 1 ranking and 33-point margin of victory should tell you just how much UMass has improved. "I'm sure the reason why people think they are the best team in the country was in evidence tonight," Dunphy said. "To me, they have all the ingredients -- they have experience, they have balance, they have depth, and I think they're a well-coached team. Everything they did tonight was right. And of course then for us it looked like everything we did was wrong." The stats certainly showed that. The five Penn starters combined for an 11-of--36 shooting night while UMass shot better than 50 percent for the contest. Using their superior size and strength, the Minutemen scored 64 points in the paint compared with Penn's 23. UMass used great ball movement to create easy shots against a Penn zone defense that could not rotate fast enough. When Dunphy switched Penn to a man-on-man defense, the Quakers were too often simply overmatched. On the offensive end, the Quakers were taken out of rhythm early on by the Minutemen's full-court pressure defense. Struggling to even get the ball upcourt, Penn was slow in getting into its offensive sets and its guards rarely got clean looks at the basket. Once Penn let the UMass crowd into the game, it was almost impossible to climb back. The Minutemen (11-1) came out with something to prove, according to Roe, after nearly losing to St. Bonaventure and struggling against Rutgers earlier in the week. Roe was told repeatedly the Quakers would end the Minutemen's winning streak. "The last few days we really focused on Penn," Roe said. "We wanted to make a statement with this game because we knew they beat Michigan and they beat a good St. John's team. They were trying to prove they can beat us, and we weren't going to have that, especially at the Mullins Center." One of the biggest reasons for the Minutemen's improvement has been 6-foot-11 center Marcus Camby, who contributed 15 points and seven rebounds to a dominant frontcourt. "When you got a guy like that down low that's going to swat everything that comes down there, it makes a big difference," Roe said. UMass outrebounded the Quakers 49-33. The Minutemen also had seven blocks and forced countless altered shots. The result was a 24-9 outburst to open the game. The Quakers never were able to make a run. Penn wasn't turning the ball over, it just wasn't in position to take good shots. "Not only is the defense on the perimeter good," Dunphy said, "but you get by the first line of defense and you get Camby and Roe back there. So it's quite formidable." "That's what we strive on," Camby said. "In practice coach works hard on face-up defense. You see a lot of great three-point shooters, and you have to contest every three-point shot. Fortunately we got a lot of rebounds and that was the key to the game." Dunphy called it a learning experience, then added: "It's just a shame we played poorly in a big game for us."