Final Four Game Capsules : Mississippi vs. Syracuse

How they got here: No question, Syracuse had the easiest path to the Meadowlands. The Orangemen have faced only one top-25 team in the tournament: jump shot-impaired Kansas in the West final. Mississippi State had the hardest, playing third-ranked Connecticut and No. 7 Cincinnati in successive Southeast Regional games. After collapses by Purdue and Memphis in the West, Syracuse played Georgia, seeded eighth in the regional, before upsetting Kansas. No team has had a hotter run than Mississippi State, which started it by knocking off then-top-rated Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference tournament final.

* Difference makers: Darryl Wilson and Dontae’ Jones have been the offensive catalysts for Mississippi State, but the biggest reason the Bulldogs are holding teams 20 points below their scoring averages is 6-foot-11 Erick Dampier, who has been quiet offensively but has slowed every high-scoring big man in his path. Syracuse’s multidimensional John Wallace, the West Regional MVP, is next.

* Two questions: Can Syracuse forward Otis Hill, who scored 15 against Georgia and 19 against Kansas, continue as another reliable inside option for the Orangemen? What happens if, for once, the Bulldogs don’t take an early lead and have to get quick production against Syracuse’s tricky 2-3 zone?

* Looking forward to: If Syracuse and Massachusetts play in the final, it will be the first time in forever that neither title-game team has an NBA-quality guard. Syracuse gets good mileage out of 6-4 Lazarus Sims and 6-5 Jason Cippola, but neither scares anybody.

* Glimpse at the coaches: With a team that somehow plays loose despite his uptight ways, Mississippi State’s Richard Williams is the guy most likely to take a swing at a New York writer. With a less-talented team than he has had in the past, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim is the guy who might finally be rid of the chokes-in-big-games reputation.

* Prediction: This is the game nobody cares about . . . just like that 1985 semifinal between Villanova and Memphis State, just like that 1983 North Carolina State-Georgia semifinal. Gee, whatever happened to the winners of those nobody-cares games? Mississippi State will hold Syracuse to 50 points and ease into a tough title game rematch with Kentucky.