Bulldogs Get Bitten in Paint

Mississippi State fans may want to point to the Bulldogs’ 21 turnovers or their 35.3% shooting in the second half as the two biggest reasons why Syracuse will play in Monday’s NCAA championship game.

But for those who believe games are won or lost in the lane, Syracuse defeated the Bulldogs, 77-69, thanks to two key stretches of inside domination by Otis Hill and John Wallace.

“They took away our inside game for the most part,” Mississippi State Coach Richard Williams said. “Then, they were able to get key baskets by their big men.”

Hill, a 6-foot-8 junior, was matched up against the Bulldogs’ bigger and more celebrated 6-11 center Erick Dampier to start the game and made Mississippi State pay heavily by jump starting Syracuse’s offense with 15 points on seven of nine shooting in the first half.

“John [Wallace] and the coaches talked to me and said go right at them,” said Hill, who scored a personal-best 22 points against Providence earlier this season. “Not to change anything [I’ve] been doing all year. Just go right by them to the basket.”

Repeatedly, Hill worked inside against Dampier and faked until he had an open shot in scoring 10 of the Orangemen’s first 22 points and 15 of their first 27.

“Otis was so key for us in the first half because we were struggling offensively and he kept us in there,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said.

With the Bulldogs surging to a 29-22 lead at the 6:27 mark in the half, Hill’s biggest impact came when he scored five consecutive points to bring Syracuse within 29-27 at the 4:29 mark.

Although Hill did not score again, his early output helped Syracuse go into the locker room at halftime tied at 36 after trailing for most of the half.

“I really didn’t look for them to get the ball inside to [Hill] as much as they did to start the game,” Dampier said. “In the [game films] I watched, he got the ball some, but not that much.”

Whereas Hill called the first half “the best 20 minutes of my life,” Wallace had a quiet nine points and only one rebound playing against the Bulldogs’ Russell Walters, who forced Wallace outside.

That all changed in the second half after Wallace received a pep talk from his idol and former Syracuse standout Derrick Coleman, who told him to “take the ball to the . . . basket”.

Wallace followed Coleman’s advice and went to work against Walters, who picked up his fourth foul with 8:17 left in the game. When Walters went to the bench, Syracuse led, 50-48. When he returned, the Orangemen were ahead, 61-53, thanks to eight consecutive points by Wallace.

With Walters out, Mississippi State first tried a zone defense against Wallace and then put Dontae’ Jones on him man-to-man. Nothing worked.

“I started to get it going then,” said Wallace, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “I had my rhythm and my teammates were able to get the ball to me in good position.”

After Wallace’s scoring burst, Syracuse stretched its lead to 11 points two minutes later and never looked back.

“I’ve been telling [people] from the jump that we’re not a one-player team,” Wallace said. “Everyone contributes at different times in the game. I might take more shots than anybody else, but for the most part, we all get great looks.”

In a season that has lasted longer than anyone outside of the Orangemen ever dreamed, Syracuse will get one final chance to prove people wrong.