East Regional has been according to form

BOSTON – One of the old axioms of college basketball is that you play zone against a team that plays zone.

Syracuse, which plays the best zone defense in the sport, has struggled recently against zones.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta, who today will be the next coach to try and solve the 2-3 when his second-seeded Buckeyes (30-7) meet the top-seeded Orange (34-2) with a berth in the Final Four at stake, was asked if he was thinking of trying to play zone against a zone.

“Not really. We’re into Game 30, whatever it is. We kind of are who we are from that standpoint to be honest with you,” he said Friday. “Going against a zone this week – we felt like Cincinnati was going to play us like they did last night, the first-half zone, and thought there was a chance we’d play Syracuse, so we went against zone in practice and left with a ton of confidence on offense because the zone was so bad. So we’re not going to do that.”

Wisconsin pounded the zone with 14 3-pointers in the 64-63 East Regional semifinal loss to the Orange, but came up short down the stretch.

“Watching that game last night, he (Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim) struck true to what he’s done,” Matta said. “Fourteen 3s, you might say, ‘Hey, that’s good enough to get the job done.’ Last night it wasn’t.”