Must Be In The Front Row

Not everyone who had a credential for Saturday’s Final Four was a member of the media.

At least three imposters were able to claim credentials by showing up at media headquarters in the days prior the national semifinals and presenting phony proof of identity.

NCAA spokesman Dave Cawood said New Jersey state police retrieved two of the three credentials at Saturday’s games at the Meadowlands.

The one still unaccounted for belonged to Melissa Isaacson of the Chicago Tribune. An imposter received her credential by presenting a phony California driver’s license.

“The person even spelled my name wrong,” said Isaacson, who was given a substitute credential.

One nattily attired, trim “Wall Street-type” failed in an attempt to get the credential of Mike Vega of the Boston Globe on Wednesday.

The imposter walked into the media room at the Mariotte Marquis in New York City and announced himself as Vega to Mike Enright, the assistant sports information director at Notre Dame. “No, you’re not,” Enright recalled saying.

“Before you give me too much credit,” Enright added later, “I was also the guy who gave Melissa Isaacson’s away.”

Vega laughed about his imposter.

“I haven’t worn a tie in a while and I was 125 pounds when I was in the fourth grade,” Vega said.

Hill stops Dampier

Otis Hill called it the best 20 minutes of his life.

There he was on center stage in the NCAA semifinals, giving away 3 inches yet dominating Mississippi State’s 6-foot-11 Eric Dampier, one of the best big men in the country.

It was supposed to be the other way. This was the one matchup that seemed heavily tilted in Mississippi State’s favor. How was Hill going to stop Dampier?

By halftime, people were asking how Dampier was going to stop Hill.

The 6-8, 255-pound Syracuse junior had 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the first half. Dampier was 1 for 1 for two points. And the score was tied at 36.

“Otis was so key in the first half,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We were struggling so much offensively. He kept us in there.”

Dampier was surprised at Hill’s willingness to shoot. “I watched some films on him,” the Mississippi State center said, “and I really didn’t look for him to get the ball that much. But I guess they wanted to go inside. They got it to him and he made big plays for them.”

It did not matter that Hill was scoreless in the second half. He had done his job.

Todd Burgan, a sophomore swingman from Detroit, found the range when Syracuse needed it most.

Burgan had made just 31.9 percent (23 of 72) of his shots in the eight previous games, but he was 6 of 11 on Saturday, including 4 of 5 in the second half. Burgan also had struggled at the line, making 5 of 19 in Syracuse’s three previous games, but he made all four of his second-half free throws.

Turnover king

Guard Marcus Bullard had nine of Mississippi State’s 21 turnovers against Syracuse. He had six in the last three games and 12 in the tournament prior to Saturday’s game.

“I really can’t blame my teammates, a lot of the decisions came from me,” Bullard said. “I made a lot of bad decisions at times. I don’t think I took care of the ball. It was poor decision making on my part.”

On the other hand, Syracuse point guard Lazarus Sims, a fifth-year senior, did not commit a turnover.

Mr. Boeheim to you

Rick Pitino faces ones of his first bosses when Kentucky plays Syracuse in the title game Monday night.

Pitino’s second job as a college assistant was at Syracuse from 1976-78. That was the first two seasons that Jim Boeheim was the Oragemen’s coach. Pitino is 1-6 against Boeheim. That win came in their last meeting, when Kentucky beat Syracuse 77-71 in February 1995.

Sheppard steps up

Jeff Sheppard played a more visible role after Kentucky starting guard Tony Delk began experiencing leg cramps in the second half.

While giving Delk a few breaks for treatment on the bench, Sheppard played about 6 minutes in the second half. He scored all seven of his points in that time, including a fast-break dunk with 3:06 left that gave Kentucky a 68-60 lead.

“Tony got cramps, and coach put me in. You don’t think about much, you just kind of react to what happens,” Sheppard said. “They were applying some tough pressure. We just tried to have an attack mentality and break their pressure.”

Sheppard hit both of his field-goal attempts and 3 of 4 free throws.

Cosby tunes in

The biggest pregame stir at the Meadowlands last night was affected by entertainer Bill Cosby, who popped up in the pep bands of both Syracuse and Mississippi State.

Camby honored again

Massachusetts center Marcus Camby took home another award Saturday, being selected player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Camby was named AP player of the year on Friday.

Million to none

Tom Gates, selected from among 3 million people to take a 3-point shot for $1 million, missed on Saturday.

He still pocketed $50,000.