Facing familiar zone defense, UNC finally responded to defeat Syracuse

Jim Boeheim might be known for one thing.

It’s not his late-game ejection against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2014. It’s not even his lone national title in 2003.

What separates the 37-year Syracuse head coach from the three other active Hall of Fame coaches in the ACC is simple: his players always run a 2-3 zone defense. No matter what day of the week or whom they’re facing.

“I don’t like you using my zone so much,” joked Boeheim in a tribute video celebrating Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,000th career win Sunday. He’s right. It’s his zone and it’s one of the most feared defenses in all of college basketball.

A day after the video aired, Boeheim and Syracuse traveled to Chapel Hill and brought the 2-3 zone with them. But in its 93-83 win over the Orange on Monday, the No. 13 North Carolina men’s basketball team didn’t fall victim to Boeheim’s trademark defense. UNC (18-4, 7-1 ACC) picked apart the zone inside and out with a solid shooting performance — 55 percent from the field and 56 percent from three-point range — en route to scoring the most points Syracuse ( 14-8, 5-3 ACC) has allowed since 2009.

“We knew we had to make some shots. There’s only so much you can do. At the end of the day, you gotta knock down some shots because that’s what they give you,” said point guard Marcus Paige, who finished with a team-high 22 points.

“Just coming in and getting those extra shots, they’re gonna fall down sooner or later,” added sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks. “Today was the day that they did.”

Offensively, there are two ways to beat a zone. The first is to find the gaps in the defense and pound the ball inside. The second: take advantage of the space the defense leaves around the perimeter and let it fly from deep.

On Monday, the Tar Heels employed both of these strategies. UNC finished with 36 points in the paint to Syracuse’s 24, behind 17 points apiece from Meeks and fellow forward Brice Johnson.

Yet what’s usually UNC’s biggest weakness appeared to be the team’s greatest strength against Syracuse’s zone: 3-point shooting.

The Tar Heels entered the game ranked 242nd in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at 32 percent a game. Paige had 48 deep balls to his name while the rest of the team had 43. Combined.

Against Syracuse, Paige hit four threes, sophomore point guard Nate Britt added a career-high four of his own and junior swingman J.P. Tokoto chipped in one, good for 9-for-16 on the night.

“Against a defense that’s really tough for us, we don’t shoot the ball exceptionally well, to say the least,” Coach Roy Williams said. “But 9 out of 16 tonight, I’d take that every night, to say the least.”

On six separate occasions Monday, UNC tied the game or took the lead by finding some space and knocking down a 3-pointer.

But maybe the biggest 3-pointer came with 8:10 left in the game when Britt hit likely his biggest shot of the season: a shot from beyond the arc that gave UNC a 64-62 lead.

The Tar Heels would never trail after Britt’s shot. They’d hold on to win their sixth consecutive game, despite tallying a season-high 20 turnovers and allowing 50 points combined to Syracuse’s Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas.

After the game, Paige spoke confidently. And with no sense of disrespect toward Boeheim’s legendary scheme, he pointed out that his team’s offense is establishing a reputation of its own.

It’s an offense that isn’t afraid to face a zone.

“We get in a little bit of a comfort zone,” he said. “Everyone’s zoned us ... almost the entire year. So we’re getting better at attacking it.”

sports@dailytarheel.com