The dynamic of the Syracuse game will be eminently familiar tonight, thanks to Washington hiring longtime Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins over the offseason. Hopkins hasn’t deployed Syracuse’s trademark zone as often as the Orange did, but they will definitely be trotting it out against the Jayhawks.
To say Washington isn’t as good at zone defense as the Orange would be a massive understatement. Washington is currently 211th defensively, and is allowing opponents to shoot 54.3 percent from two. They’re also giving up a ton of three point attempts, but without the corresponding effect on three point shooters, as opponents are making 38.