John Beilein ran through the schools in rapid fire: West Virginia, Canisius, Richmond. Three different coaching stops in Beilein’s journeyman career, all of which had several capable 3-point shooters to attack Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone.

But every time the two head coaches have faced each other – nine occasions to date — the result was the same. Boeheim went home with a win.

Beilein will try to solve the Syracuse zone for the 10th time on Saturday, as he hopes to guide his Michigan team to the national title game while earning his first win against Boeheim in the process. The two coaches participated in a teleconference Monday, and the majority of the questions focused on how the Wolverines match up against the 2-3 puzzle that has been unsolvable so far in the NCAA Tournament.

Beilein said Syracuse’s length is “never a good matchup for any team,” and Boeheim said Michigan is the “best offensive team in the country.” Which statement is truer won’t be proven until Saturday.

“Offensively, they’re by far the biggest challenge we’ve had this year,” Boeheim said in the teleconference. “We played some really good teams, but we haven’t played anybody as good offensively as Michigan.”

It’s a major statement considering Syracuse has played Louisville, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, three times this season and knocked off Indiana in the Sweet 16. But Michigan’s lineup — a balanced, shooter-heavy unit with an emerging post player inside — appears to have the weapons needed to decode Boeheim’s cryptic, trademark zone.

Trey Burke, Michigan’s All-American point guard, spearheads a perimeter unit in which “each one of those guys can score 20 points in a night,” Boeheim said. Tim Hardaway Jr., Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas join Burke on the outside, all of whom have scored 20 points in at least one game during the NCAA Tournament.

The key, though, has been the emergence of freshman big man Mitch McGary. His season averages of 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game are strong for a first-year player, but in the tournament, he has ascended to another level.

Through Michigan’s four wins, McGary has averaged more than 17 points per game and been a force down low.

“Now their freshman center, McGary, has really stepped up,” Boeheim said. “They’re a different team with his presence inside. He’s now in some games dominant.”

On the outside, Michigan seems to have the team to attack the zone well. Whether that is the case on Saturday is a different story.

Boeheim said this is the best zone defense he has ever had at Syracuse, with athletic and lanky players at every position and a handful of capable shot blockers. Through four games in the NCAA Tournament, the Orange has allowed an average of 45.8 points per game.

Marquette, a team that scored 74 points against Syracuse during the regular season, could not even reach 40 in the Elite Eight.

“It’s the same great defense,” Beilein said. “The names change, the personnel and their abilities stay the same. Except the one thing that I’ve seen is that at some times, they’re more shot blocking. And other times, like right now, this is a great steal team. They get their hands on things.”

Beilein said he was glad his team had almost a full week to prepare for the zone defense, a luxury Indiana and California were not afforded. Even still, Syracuse players have said that period of time is insufficient. The length and activity cannot be simulated, they say, unless one can match their personnel.

And this year, no one can.

With a pair of guards standing 6 feet 4 inches and 6 feet 6 inches on the perimeter, Syracuse is able to disrupt an opponent’s offense even before it gets into a set play. The result is countless steals, tipped passes and deflections that cause turnovers and lead to transition opportunities the other way.

If Michigan is going to combat that activity, Beilein said his team must make the rare open looks it gets. There won’t be many, he said, which is why knocking them down is crucial.

No team has done it yet, but Michigan is perhaps the most equipped. On Saturday, one of the nation’s best offenses will try to solve perhaps the most confounding defense in the country.

“It certainly has withstood the test of time,” Beilein said. “And Jim continues to work at it and tweak it in different ways.”

Published on April 2, 2013 at 12:45 am

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13