Upon returning to the hotel around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, West Virginia freshman Jalen Bridges ate a late night meal, took a shower and started to watch tape from the Mountaineers’ 84-67 win over Morehead State that had finished an hour earlier.
“I watched as much of the Morehead State game as I could before I fell asleep,” Bridges said. “The (Syracuse) scouting starts today for us.”
Such is life between the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, particularly when you play the last of 16 games Friday, as the third-seeded Mountaineers did with a 10:25 p.m. tip against the Eagles.
Now comes the second-round challenge Sunday at 5:15 p.m. when West Virginia renews an old Big East Conference rivalry with the No. 11 seed Orange at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The second-round matchup means the Mountaineers (19-9) have Saturday and early Sunday to prepare for Syracuse’s trademark 2-3 zone, one that limited San Diego State to less than 36 percent shooting in a 78-62 win. The Aztecs did not score a point over the final nine-plus minutes of the opening half.
“Our defense was better, but part of it was they missed a lot of shots,” SU coach Jim Boeheim said. “They really didn’t shoot the ball well and you have to remember that.”
Over his 44-year coaching career, Boeheim has caused many opponents trouble with the 2-3 zone, particularly at this point in the season.
“He does a great job of making adjustments,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “They don’t just stand in your typical 2-3 zone. They raise the wings, they sink the wings, they change how they’re going to play the middle guy. They’ll pressure you and then won’t pressure you and they’ll try to gap everything.”
While Syracuse (17-9) had its fair share of defensive struggles throughout the regular season, the Orange are playing their best defense at the right time. Over the last five contests, Syracuse is surrendering 65.2 points per game and hasn’t allowed more than 72.
SU has been undersized at times with 6-foot-10, 200-pound senior Marek Dolezaj at center, but 6-11 sophomore Jesse Edwards has seen an increase in playing time over the last three weeks. So, too, has Robert Braswell, a 6-7 sophomore with 30 points over the last three games, while playing at least 21 minutes in each one.
Though Dolezaj is the only starter of that group, Quency Guerrier (6-7), Buddy Boeheim (6-6) and Alan Griffin (6-5) provide SU’s starting group with its usual surplus of length.
“They have a lot of guys on that back line that have a lot of bounce,” Huggins said.
That length becomes an even bigger factor with reserve guard Kadary Richmond at the top of the zone. At 6-5, Richmond, who often spells starting point guard Joseph Girard, averages nearly two steals per game despite playing 21 minutes on average.
“That’s why their zone is so successful, because they put guys out there who are athletes,” Bridges said.
On the flip side, however, is a difficult challenge for Syracuse playing zone defense against a WVU team not lacking perimeter scorers.
Guards Miles “Deuce” McBride, Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman have all made between 43 and 62 three-pointers, while Bridges has 27 triples, including 26 in the 2021 calendar year.
Collectively, WVU is 205-for-567 (36.2 percent) from beyond the arc this season.
“West Virginia is a really good basketball team and they have better shooting than they’ve had in a while,” coach Boeheim said. “They haven’t been as good offensively as they are this year. They’re a really good offensive basketball team and they present a tremendous challenge to us.”
McBride was a star in the win over Morehead State, scoring 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting to go with six rebounds, six assists, three steals and no turnovers.
Although McNeil and Sherman combined to shoot 8-for-21, Bridges scored 15 points with a trio of three-pointers.
In large part because of his personnel, which also includes All-Big 12 Conference center Derek Culver, Huggins doesn’t believe the short turnaround creates a disadvantage for his team in its preparation for the Syracuse zone.
“It would be a lot harder if we couldn’t surround the zone with four guys that are all very capable of making shots,” Huggins said. “We play four guys that can make shots for the majority of the game and it helps get Derek isolated in there.
“It’s kind of pick your poison,” he continued. “Are you going to come out and extend it and 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?”