Busting Brackets
Fansided

Miles McBride and Derek Culver of West Virginia Basketball up against Syracuse zone

By Benjamin Zacher

Mar 19, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; The West Virginia Mountaineers celebrates after beating the Morehead State Eagles in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; The West Virginia Mountaineers celebrates after beating the Morehead State Eagles in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Syracuse Orange Buddy Boeheim Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Syracuse Orange Buddy Boeheim Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

2. The Mountaineers must clamp down on the country’s hottest shooter

Syracuse’s path to the NCAA Tournament can largely be attributed to the play of junior Buddy Boeheim, who leads the Orange in percentage of shots taken and sits fourth in the ACC in points per game, pouring in 17.7 a night.

Boeheim’s flourishment as of late, however, has been crucial to Syracuse’s late-season resurgence.  In the Orange’s last five games – four of which wins and the other being the buzzer-beating loss to Virginia – Boeheim has averaged 26.2 points on absurd shooting clips of 66.7% (2PT, 20-30), 49.1% (3PT, 26-53), and 92.9% (FT, 13-14).

https://twitter.com/slam_university/status/1373115836605607941

The junior guard’s dominance was on full display against San Diego State, where he finished with 30 points – including having scored 16 of Syracuse’s first 19 points and matching his career-high in three-pointers made with seven.  It is now Boeheim’s 18th double-digit game this year.

Obviously, shutting down Boeheim is West Virginia’s biggest challenge on the defensive end.  The Mountaineers have struggled as of late in shutting down stellar play, including allowing the tandem of Morehead State’s DeVon Cooper and Skyelar Potter to combine for 39 points on 5-8 shooting inside and 9-14 shooting from the perimeter.

On top of that, the Mountaineers must do a better job at defending the three-point line.  The Eagles shot a blistering 52.6% (10-19) from long range, a substantially better mark than what West Virginia typically holds teams to at 33.0%, the 123rd-best mark in college basketball.

Home/West Virginia Mountaineers