Final Four Game Capsules : Massachusetts vs. Kentucky

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. After less-than-stellar victories over Central Florida and Stanford, the Minutemen, getting super-steady play and tremendous defense from guards Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla, bounced Arkansas by 16 points and humiliated Georgetown and Allen Iverson, 86-62.

* Difference maker: Guard Tony Delk is the consistent scorer and forward Walter McCarty is the low-post presence, but Kentucky do-it-all forward Antoine Walker, who was badly outplayed by UMass’ front line in its early season, 92-82 victory over the Wildcats, is the key player. Since the UMass loss, Walker has become a crucial part of Kentucky’s half-court offense--handling the high post and finishing hard cuts with dunks--and suffocating interior defense.

* Two questions: Can UMass, with its lack of depth--are Travieso and Padilla going to play the whole game?--handle 40 minutes of pressure against the deepest team in America? Is the swarming inside defense that Kentucky threw at Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan (the first 28 minutes without a basket) going to be the answer against Minuteman center Marcus Camby, who had 32 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots in the earlier Kentucky defeat?

* Looking forward to: How well the winner recovers from the emotional high and gets its game together for the Mississippi State-Syracuse victor.

* Glimpse of the coaches: They are shiny-haired, slick-suited clones of each other. Rick Pitino had better win this game or he will face decades of recrimination from Wildcat fans; UMass’ John Calipari is the Final Four first-timer with a team that plays as tough as he sounds.

* Prediction: Two victories over Kentucky, a legendary team in the making, is a little too much to ask of Camby & Co. Wildcats Delk and Ron Mercer won’t combine to shoot nine of 26, as they did in the first meeting, and Pitino will get to his first title game.