WVU Expects to Match Up Well Against Syracuse’s Zone in NCAA Second Round

After facing a coach making his NCAA tournament debut in the first round, Bob Huggins and West Virginia will turn around and take on a coach making his 35th NCAA appearance in Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim.

Following Syracuse’s first-round win, Boeheim had nothing but praise for how the Mountaineers have played this season.

“They’re really the best West Virginia team I’ve seen,” Boeheim said. “They always play good defense but they’ve got multiple guys that can shoot the ball, which I haven’t seen that much from them the last few years.”

No. 11 seed Syracuse (17-9, 9-7 ACC) upset No. 6 seed San Diego State in their first-round game Friday night. No. 3 seed West Virginia (19-9, 11-6 Big 12) defeated No. 14 Morehead State to advance.

Syracuse still runs Boeheim’s famous 2-3 zone defense, but Huggins is well-versed in coaching against the zone when WVU and SU were members of the old Big East conference.

“[Boeheim] does such a great job of changing it up,” Huggins said. “When you start to attack a certain area, he does a great job of making adjustments.”

Since WVU and SU do not play one another as regular conference opponents anymore, the current Mountaineers players do not have a lot of experience playing against a zone defense like Syracuse’s. Even with only one day of preparation, Huggins said he thinks his team will match up well with it.

“I think it’d be a lot harder if we couldn’t surround the zone with four guys that are all very capable of making shots,” Huggins said. “I think because we play four guys who can make shots it helps Derek [Culver]. It isolates Derek in there a little bit more.”

Huggins explained that playing Culver down low and using players like Miles “Deuce” McBride, Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman on the perimeter, will force Syracuse to stay honest in their defense.

“I think it’s a little bit of pick your poison,” Huggins said. “Are you going to extend it and try to keep those guys from making shots or are you going to sag back in there and try to keep Derek from scoring in the low post?”

The Orange’s leading scorer this season is Boeheim’s son, Buddy. Buddy Boeheim is averaging 17.7 points per game this season, shooting 43.9% from the floor and 39.1% from 3-point range. Alan Griffin (14.1), Quincy Guerrier (14.0) and Marek Dolezaj (10.0) are all also averaging double-digit points. Guerrier leads the team in rebounding, averaging 8.6 per game.

WVU and Syracuse will tip-off at 5:15 p.m. EST Sunday afternoon from Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on CBS.