MORGANTOWN — Simple math tells you that two plus three equals 5.

So how did West Virginia’s basketball workforce handle to interrupt out a 2-3 zone, which is 2 males on the surface and three down low guarding not a person however an space that seemed to be six or seven defenders to a Jacksonville (Ala.) Gamecock workforce that fell sufferer to the Mountaineers, 70-57, within the Coliseum on Tuesday evening?

Because math, which morphs into analytics, doesn’t at all times inform the true story.

Consider, if you’ll, the most important mistake of the evening was found at halftime when the Mountaineers confirmed 42 factors on the scoreboard, however by the point they got here out to play the second half, that had been modified to 40 factors as a shot that had been registered as a basket was in actuality a miss.

Ergo, 42 factors grew to become 40.

But again to that 2-3 zone. Most would credit score level guard Kobe Johnson’s breakout efficiency with profession highs in factors (19), rebounds (6) and assists (5) with being the important thing to the sport.

In reality, the choice to push the 2-3 zone actually was the primary issue within the victory and, on an evening when WVU performed what historically has been West Virginia basketball from the Bob Huggins period, they did so whereas taking part in a protection that Huggins principally stayed away from, the 2-3 zone.

Huggins favored a bodily recreation, he favored an intimidating, in-your-face protection such because the “Press Virginia” protection that grew to become a trademark.

But this season at WVU, with solely eight eligible scholarship gamers at current, there isn’t any approach that a lot vitality may be drained on protection and anticipate 40 minutes of play on the prime stage.

The reply was present in that 2-3 zone, one thing Jax State by no means anticipated.

“I think the biggest difference from tonight compared to the Monmouth game is we saved a lot of legs on the defensive end with a zone,” Coach Josh Eilert defined. “We felt more comfortable tonight with the zone this week than I did against (Monmouth fifth year senior guard) Xander Rice.”

Not that what he did run on that evening helped any with him, as Rice dropped 30 factors on WVU.

But it helped with the offense that was so dangerous towards Monmouth.

“It seemed to keep our legs fresh, so we were downhill and with pace and playing with pace on the offensive end and everything seemed to be clicking a little better. We shot it way more efficient, 8-for-19, I’ll take that every day of the week,” Eilert mentioned.

While the Mountaineers fell behind early within the recreation, once they determined to play aggressively within the 2-3 zone, Jax State was flummoxed.

It wasn’t that they turned the ball over loads, having solely 10 for the sport, however their photographs have been challenged and infrequently hurried, ending with simply 34.4% taking pictures for the night.

Because of that, it didn’t matter that that they had 16 extra photographs than the Mountaineers. They wound up with two fewer baskets.

The zone historically forces groups to shoot from exterior and it could actually reduce down on penetration.

More necessary to WVU, it’s a protection that matches the Mountaineers greatest participant, Jesse Edwards, completely as he spent his complete time at Syracuse taking part in in Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone that features a number of nuances that aren’t but in at WVU however that Edwards will assist set up.

“Jesse is a natural back there. He spent four years in a zone,” Eilert mentioned. “So, we picked up just a few issues that we may simply nail down, and we didn’t overcomplicate it by any means. We simply needed to choose two or three issues, and most each child has performed a 2-3 zone. So, it’s not prefer it’s loopy or unnatural, however there are issues he’s given us that we are able to make the most of, and we’ve stored it fairly easy.

“So, the main thing is trying to navigate those ball screens when they set those ball screens on those top guards. That’s probably the issue we probably could clean up the best.”

If you assume again to WVU’s protection the final couple of years, they have been inclined to each ball screens that led to choose and rolls or to backdoor cuts that produced dunks.

“When you have Jesse Edwards, who played at Syracuse where it was a staple for 100 years, he’s teaching us the zone,” WVU ahead Quinn Slazinski mentioned. “It’s ‘Jesse, what should we do here when this guy catches it?’ He’s doing a great job of being a leader.”

Now nobody ought to go off crazily and order NCAA Final Four tickets as a result of Jacksonville State is much from being the Kansas Jayhawks, but it surely offers the Mountaineers a instrument to assist it get by means of the time it’s low on personnel.