EAST\UMass shows off weapons.

Byline: Paul Newberry Associated Press 

Massachusetts coach John Calipari keeps insisting that no one will give his team its proper due unless it reaches the Final Four.

The Minutemen are one step away.

The nation's top-ranked team didn't start All-American center Marcus Camby but advanced to the NCAA East Regional final with an overpowering 79-63 victory Thursday night over Arkansas, a No. 12 seed that had pulled off stunning upsets in the first two rounds.

It quickly became apparent that the Razorbacks, a freshman-dominated team, would advance no further than the round of 16 in this year's tournament. Not against UMass (34-1), the region's top seed, which has now won eight in a row since its only loss of the season to George Washington.

The Minutemen will face Georgetown, a 98-90 winner over Texas Tech, in the regional final Saturday.

Even with Camby benched for the first 1:13 because he was late for the team bus, the Minutemen scored the first 13 points and were never seriously threatened by Arkansas (20-13), which shot abysmally most of the game.

The Razorbacks scored the next eight points after UMass' opening spurt, but the Minutemen didn't panic. Epitomizing the word "team," they showed all of their weapons: hitting from outside, dominating underneath, giving Arkansas a taste of "40 minutes of hell" at the defensive end.

Carmelo Travieso, who tumbled off a podium at a press conference the day before, showed no ill effects from his fall. He scored 14 points, one of five Minutemen in double figures.

Tyrone Weeks, who started for Camby, tied a career-high with 16 points. Camby added 15, Dana Dingle 12 and Donta Bright 11.

The Razorbacks, with four freshman starters, appeared to have a serious case of stage fright before 34,614 at the Georgia Dome. They made only 5 of 27 shots in the first half and missed their first four attempts to begin the second - a 16 percent accuracy rate for a team that entered the game shooting 45 percent.

Arkansas finished 22 of 64 (34 percent), including just 3 of 15 from beyond the 3-point arc. About the only thing the Razorbacks did well with the ball in their hands was shoot free throws (16 of 18), which had been one of their major weaknesses.

Coach Nolan Richardson shuffled players in and out of the lineup but could find no one with the hot hand. Pat Bradley finally warmed up and finished with 15 points, including three shots from 3-point range. By the time his shots started falling, the game was no longer in doubt.

UMass doesn't appear to have any weaknesses, but the Minutemen must prove they can get over the regional hump. A victory Saturday would send them to the Final Four for the first time.

However, of the 13 teams which have entered the tournament since 1976 with only one loss, none has won the national championship.

Georgetown 98, Texas Tech 90: Allen Iverson's frustration manifested itself in several ways. He jumped high in the air. He smiled in disbelief. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head.

Fortunately for Georgetown, Iverson never stopped shooting, never stopped creating, never stopped harassing.

The Hoyas, putting the game squarely in the hands of their talented sophomore, advanced to the final of the NCAA East Regional despite the fact Iverson shot only 10 of 29 from the field, scored 32 points and also found time to hand out five assists, come up with five steals and wade underneath for four rebounds.

"The first half, I was a little excited," Iverson said. "I was up for the game. I missed some shots I should have made."