The Syracuse men’s basketball team knew all along defense was important for its success, but it wasn’t until SU sat down and watched game film before Monday’s game against West Virginia the difference was tangible.

When the Orange played actively and aggressively, its zone confused its opponents, leading to a great defensive night. SU took that lesson to heart, stopping the potent WVU offense to upset the Mountaineers.

When Syracuse travels to the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., to face No. 23 Georgetown at noon on Saturday, the Orange looks to continue its recent turnaround by limiting the Hoyas with consistent, aggressive defense. Jostling for positioning in the Big East tournament, Syracuse jumped from ninth to a three-way tie for seventh with the win on Monday.

‘We didn’t give up a shot (against West Virginia),’ Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara said. ‘That’s what it boils down to. If we’re going to be productive, win games, we’re going to have to be pretty active, pretty good in the zone.’

The Orange (19-8, 7-6 Big East) will need to play active defense if it hopes to beat the surprising Hoyas (18-7, 9-5). Georgetown owns a 47.9 field goal percentage on the season and has both inside and outside threats.

While the Orange knew WVU could only hurt it from outside, the Hoyas pose a completely difference obstacle.

Their top two scorers, Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green, are big men, posing a challenge for the inconsistent Syracuse frontcourt. GU’s next two leading scorers, Brandon Bowman and Ashanti Cook, are outside threats. Cook is shooting 43.2 percent beyond the 3-point line this year.

‘We want to go into Georgetown and sneak away and get a win down there – we know they’re going to be a tough scrappy team like West Virginia,’ Syracuse forward Terrence Roberts said. ‘Defensively, we’ll have to kick it up a notch again.’

In the past two games, the zone has been the most effective defense for the Orange, holding Louisville and West Virginia to 62 points per game. The success on defense allowed SU better opportunities on offense.

The biggest difference for Syracuse on defense is all players are giving constant effort, putting their hands up and getting in the face of the offensive player to contest shots.

‘Defensively, we’ve played these last two games as well as we’ve played all year,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.

‘Our defense was so active and pushed out so hard on (WVU). It was a tremendous defensive effort from all of our guys.’

But the Orange isn’t completely married to the 2-3 zone. It played man-to-man in the first six minutes against Louisville and only switched to zone when it became apparent it would be more effective in stopping the Cardinals. Syracuse also used a full-court press to some success against West Virginia.

Boeheim said his team will use whatever defense gives his team the best chance to win given the game situation, such as zone against WVU.

‘We try to use what’s effective,’ Boeheim said. ‘The next game it might be 35 minutes of man-to-man. I don’t know.’

Published on February 24, 2006 at 12:00 pm