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Boeheim’s Army looked like a shell of their former selves. They needed a spark after Blue Collar U outscored them 21-9 in the opening quarter. So, they switched their defense to an all-too-familiar look — the 2-3 zone.

BA faced a 26-14 deficit midway through the second quarter. As soon as they used the zone, Blue Collar U was on their heels. Nick Perkins drove inside, backing down Rakeem Christmas. Perkins consistently created space all game long, but on this possession he was met by a crashing Jamil Wilson and missed a tough shot. Over the next four minutes, Boeheim’s Army went on a 15-0 run and escaped the second quarter with a lead.

The implementation of Jim Boeheim’s signature 2-3 zone helped guide Boeheim’s Army to a victory over Blue Collar U in The Basketball Tournament’s Syracuse Regional Final. BA won 69-54 while the zone sparked stop after stop, setting up Grant Riller (29 points) and the offense with constant looks in transition. BA is set to play in their sixth TBT quarterfinals on Sunday.

“(BCU) came out hot early, and we just wanted to throw (the 2-3 zone) at them to try something,” Jimmy Boeheim said postgame. “It was working and we stuck with it the rest of the game.”

The 2-3 zone forces its opponent to shoot from long range. Blue Collar U was no different, taking 28 of their 70 shots from behind the arc, but they had little success from deep. BCU went 4-of-28 from beyond the arc. Boeheim’s Army had too much of an interior presence for BCU to adjust down the stretch.

With under a minute to go in the first half, Blue Collar U was down 29-28, only scoring one basket since the zone was put in place. Jeremy Harris passed to Dontay Caruthers at the top of the key, with Perkins being blanketed inside by Wilson. Riller stepped up to guard Caruthers, leaving CJ Massinburg wide-open for 3. He missed, as Blue Collar U continued to misfire from 3-point range.

“(The 2-3 zone) helped us a lot,” Christmas said postgame.

Down 61-47 in the Elam portion of the contest, BCU inbounded to Perkins at the high post. Perkins tucked the ball in his left side and charged ahead at the rim, right at the heart of the 2-3 zone.

Christmas, Wilson and Chris McCullough engulfed Perkins in the paint, leaving him no room to get off a clean shot. Christmas blocked the shot attempt and on the other end, Riller converted on a double-clutch lay-up to get within four points of the target score.

From the time Boeheim’s Army began using the 2-3, they outscored Blue Collar U 55-28. Prior to that, they gave BCU easy looks time and time again, resulting in a 12-point first quarter deficit.

“We knew we were going to get punched in the mouth at some point,” Jimmy Boeheim said.

When the zone started working, Boeheim’s Army turned to Riller to right the ship offensively. During their 15-0 run, Riller scored nine of BA’s points, playing aggressively and commonly attacking inside. He took advantage of the transition looks BA received from their suffocating defense.

With just over five minutes left in the first half, Riller meandered around the perimeter with Wilson holding the ball at the right block. Wilson spun on his defender, looking to find an open teammate, while Riller cut toward the paint. Wilson found Riller, who nailed the open lay-up.

Coming out of a commercial timeout midway through the second, Blue Collar U inbounded to Davonta Jordan at the left wing. He dribbled looking for space inside as Riller and DeAndre Kane kept in stride with the BCU guard, while McCullough and Boeheim covered Perkins in the paint. Jordan bounced a pass to Wes Clark, who misfired a 3-pointer. Jordan grabbed the rebound and swung it to Perkins, missing a midrange jumper.

McCullough secured the board and kicked it out to Riller, who launched a pass upcourt to Boeheim. Riller sprinted to Boeheim and took a handoff pass from him, which drew a matchup against Perkins.

Riller pump faked, cut inside and splashed a step-back 3 from the left corner, shrinking the deficit to just one point.

“He’s been running the team,” Dwight Buycks Jr. said of Riller postgame. “Not only is he looking to score but he’s doing a bit of everything.”

In each game of TBT, Boeheim’s Army has had one glaring span of poor play. They found themselves down 13-2 early to Team Gibson, and allowed The Nerd Team back into their second-round game during the third quarter. But having the ability to make big in-game adjustments while relying on Riller to score down the stretch makes Boeheim’s Army a formidable foe going forward.

“This tournament is all about runs and playing defense,” Christmas said. “We just want everyone to stay calm, stay composed and that’s what we did.”

Published on July 29, 2023 at 1:31 am

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews