Edgar Padilla

How they got here: They played like the top two ranked teams in the nation. Nobody came within 20 points during Kentucky's overwhelming charge to the Final Four, and if the Wildcats sustain their 25.6-point victory differential, it'll be the highest in tournament history. After first- and second-round blowouts of San Jose State and Virginia Tech, Kentucky beat Utah by 31 and second-seeded Wake Forest by 20. Massachusetts has been building momentum.

How they got here: They played like the top two ranked teams in the nation. Nobody came within 20 points during Kentucky's overwhelming charge to the Final Four, and if the Wildcats sustain their 25.6-point victory differential, it'll be the highest in tournament history. After first- and second-round blowouts of San Jose State and Virginia Tech, Kentucky beat Utah by 31 and second-seeded Wake Forest by 20. Massachusetts has been building momentum.

There is no doorbell at the home of Edgar Padilla's parents. There is no need. His parents are deaf. Inside the apartment the television is on, but there is no sound. The only noises are from the pump in the fish tank and a ticking clock. Padilla has never known it any other way. Meanwhile, across the state near Boston, Carmelo Travieso's mother struggles with a back she injured cleaning houses. Travieso's family was so poor that they had to choose between food and heat.

There is no doorbell at the home of Edgar Padilla's parents. There is no need. His parents are deaf. Inside the apartment the television is on, but there is no sound. The only noises are from the pump in the fish tank and a ticking clock. Padilla has never known it any other way. Meanwhile, across the state near Boston, Carmelo Travieso's mother struggles with a back she injured cleaning houses. Travieso's family was so poor that they had to choose between food and heat.

* Massachusetts handed Stanford its worst loss of the season a year ago, 75-53, in the second round. Cardinal point guard Brevin Knight will have to deal with Massachusetts' Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla, called by Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery "probably the two best defensive guards in the country." Stanford can't match up up front, but who can with Marcus Camby? The Minuteman center scored 14 points and had 17 rebounds in a 92-70 first-round victory over Central Florida.

Edgar Padilla scored 17 points and Marcus Camby got a rest Tuesday as No. 3 Massachusetts used an early 17-0 run to beat North Carolina Wilmington, Minutemen Coach John Calipari's former school, 77-51, at Amherst, Mass. The Minutemen (6-0) missed their first six shots but rebounded from an 8-2 deficit to take a 19-8 lead. It was 43-23 at halftime and North Carolina Wilmington (2-5) never got closer than 18.

Jennifer Kimble pitched a no-hitter to lead Ocean View High School to a 2-0 victory over Westminster in a Sunset League softball game at Ocean View Friday. Kimble (7-5) struck out 12 and also had an RBI triple for Ocean View (9-5, 1-1). In other Sunset League softball: Fountain Valley 1, Edison 0--Rae Rice (7-0) pitched a one-hitter, striking out 10 and walking none to lead visiting Fountain Valley (10-3, 2-0).

They are former pipsqueak point guards driven by blind ambition and Type-A personalities. Neither was going to make the NBA as a player, or end up pushing a broom, either. They look alike, talk alike--in machine-gun flurries--and share similar tastes in wardrobe and hair gels. Rick Pitino and John Calipari were born to coach. And pontificate. The end game was always to get here, the Final Four, yet it wasn't supposed to end up like this.

Because their road to the Final Four had mostly produced road kill, the Kentucky Wildcats could tell you everything about their game except what they'd do in a close one. They found out Saturday. Driven to a near panic attack by an opponent that lived on the edge all season, Kentucky kept its head down the stretch and defeated Massachusetts, 81-74, before 19,229 at the Meadowlands Arena. The victory avenged a 10-point defeat to UMass on Nov.

Marcus Camby was again the center of attention for the No. 1 team in college basketball, but Massachusetts stayed unbeaten Thursday night in large part because Camby gets plenty of help. Camby scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds in leading the Minutemen (11-0), but forward Donta Bright's 15 points--five of which gave Massachusetts its last two leads in the final 2:06--were plenty important.

Greg Evans had 17 kills and 17 blocks to lead Ocean View High School to a five-game victory over Estancia in a nonleague boys' volleyball match Friday at Ocean View. Ocean View won the first two games, 15-9, 15-12, then lost, 13-15 and 9-15, but rallied in the last game to win, 15-9. Ocean View is 5-3.