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After Judah Mintz picked up his fourth foul with 17:14 remaining in the game and headed to the bench, the Orange’s once 23-point lead dwindled to 12.

Head coach Adrian Autry couldn’t afford to have Mintz off the floor. So, he made a switch to something Syracuse basketball is quite familiar with — the 2-3 zone.

“Thank God for the 2-3 zone,” Autry joked postgame.

Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) fended off New Hampshire (0-1, 0-0 America East) 83-72, partly because of an ironic switch in the second half. Autry went from his newly instilled man-to-man defense to the coveted 2-3 zone. Making the switch in order to have Mintz on the floor helped the Orange keep the Wildcats to secure Autry’s first win as head coach of the program.

Autry said the Orange started practicing the 2-3 zone sometime last week after its exhibition win over The College of Saint Rose, adding that he knew Syracuse “would need it.” And it did. SU had once held a 32-9 advantage in the first half, its man defense forcing turnovers and fast-paced offense getting buckets with quick possessions. But foul trouble and a tiring Orange team needed an adjustment as that lead got to single digits in the second half.

“(New Hampshire) caught a rhythm,” Autry said. “They scored a couple of baskets in a row. We just (weren’t) defending the way we were. I wanted to get Judah back in the game and I couldn’t afford to have him pick up another cheap foul.”

Mintz returned to the game at the 9:25 mark of the second half and did not pick up a foul for the rest of the game. Naturally, man-to-man is more tight and aggressive. It was evident as Mintz’s three first-half steals spearheaded transitions, but at the same time, Mintz picked up some avoidable fouls that put him in trouble initially.

Collectively, SU only notched four fouls in the same time period. New Hampshire edged out Syracuse 19-17 in that final stretch with the zone, preventing any further threat to the Orange lead.

Autry said the Orange’s versatility and familiarity with the zone allowed his squad to pick up the switch quickly. Quadir Copeland, who finished with his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, said the switch wasn’t surprising. It wasn’t a problem for Copeland, who said as long as he is controlling the glass and getting out in transition, that’s all that matters. Mintz said shift was a good tool.

“Just being able to switch up defense is gonna be big for us,” Mintz said. “You’re not gonna be able to guard every team the same way.”

New Hampshire wasn’t the tallest team, Mintz said, which prevented the Wildcats from lobbing the ball over the top. At times, however, UNH penetrated through. Moving the ball around, Ahmad Robinson found Naim Miller in the left corner. Maliq Brown, closed out, trying to block Miller’s 3-pointer, but fouled him as the shot went in. It was one of two consecutive Miller deep shots.

On another play, Trey Woodyard managed to score an and-one on a drive down the paint. Later, Robinson scored on a drive to cut Syracuse’s lead to 75-66. But the 2-3 zone slowed the pace down and provided a new look for the Wildcats to allow SU to reset offensively after struggling to hit open looks. The Wildcats cut the lead to as low as eight with Syracuse using the zone, but never fully threatened the Orange’s lead.

The zone isn’t entirely a familiar sight for the Syracuse team. Players like Naheem McLeod, who transferred from a man-to-man defense at Florida State, said even just the thought of the set is a new concept to him. He was subbed out for the remainder of the game with just two minutes into the second half, as Autry elected to use Peter Carey in certain man-to-man matchups.

But McLeod being on the sideline gave him the opportunity to see how the defensive system works and understand the spacing, positioning of all five players on the floor and how the driving lanes were taken away.

“Just trying to get the new guys to catch up in the spacing and the spot we have to be in was kind of a learning curve,” McLeod said.

The man-to-man defense was a major reason why McLeod transferred to the Orange, and Autry hasn’t been “shy” about making that switch for the team. Still, the tactic will be something for him to rely on down the road. Copeland said it’ll potentially catch teams off-guard as they’ll have to prepare for sudden switches out of timeouts.

“I think the 2-3 kind of messed them up a little bit,” Justin Taylor said. “Changing back-and-forth between 2-3 and man is gonna help us out especially in the long season.”

Published on November 7, 2023 at 12:34 am

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