Part of the fun in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is the pairing of teams that do not often see each other, creating unique matchups and the clashing of one league’s brand of basketball versus another.

The last time Wisconsin crossed paths with Syracuse was in 1999, and the time before that: 1927. Now, both teams are to face something not often seen in their respective conferences.

Over the course of Bo Ryan’s 11-year tenure at Wisconsin, the program has become notorious for its patient, halfcourt offensive strategy, which feeds into the Big Ten’s image as a slow-paced and low-scoring conference.

Meanwhile, Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense is a signature of head coach Jim Boeheim and it serves as a starting point for its faster, full court length offense often seen in the Big East.

And on Thursday, the two trademark methods of Ryan and Boeheim will clash for the first time.

The No. 4-seeded Badgers (26-9) have not seen a defense quite like that of No. 1-seeded Syracuse’s (33-2), even though UW has already faced opponents that have switched in-game from man-to-man to zone.

Wisconsin faced a 2-3 zone in the closing minutes of its victory against Vanderbilt last weekend in the Round of 32 and struggled to penetrate near the rim, “settling” instead for three-pointers, according to guard Jordan Taylor.

“They (Syracuse) force people where they want them to go and I think when you back down from that and go back into a shell … that’s when they kind of impose their will on teams and get their way,” Taylor said. “You just have to stay aggressive and keep attacking them.

“You have to be able to penetrate the zone.”

But the Orange’s zone is more kinetic than most.

“Some zones are more compact, more stationary,” assistant coach Gary Close said. “This one tries to make things happen for them offensively so it’s very aggressive.”

Syracuse’s defense is an especially thievish one, standing at third in the nation with 9.4 steals per game and second with a plus-5.8 turnover margin. The Orange like to quickly turn their takeaways into scoring opportunities in transition, too.

And they also happen to be third in country with 7.1 blocks per contest.

Like Wisconsin being replete with potential shooters, the Orange have light fingers all across its roster and Dion Waiters is a prime example of the size and depth Syracuse has at its disposal. The 6-foot-4 guard doesn’t even start for the Orange but leads the team with 65 steals on the year.

The Orange have five other players with between 31 and 49 steals and only three have started regularly this season. Four of them are forwards standing 6-foot-7 or 6-foot-8 and the other is a 6-foot-4 guard.

“They’re the [No. 3] team in the country in steals and you don’t think that’s going to happen with teams playing a zone ‘D’,” Close said. “That’s how aggressive they are; that’s how long they are, athletic they are, how well they anticipate.”

That Wisconsin plays a more methodical game, dedicated to finding the best possible shot, may help the Badgers from getting their pockets picked by the Orange. UW has protected the basketball as well as anyone this year, posting nine turnovers a game, good for second-best in the country.

A 2-3 zone defense is more geared toward protecting the rim and leaves the perimeter susceptible – which fits neatly into Wisconsin’s offense. Just under 40 percent of Wisconsin’s shots this year have come from behind the arc with 36.2 percent of those shots connecting.

But Syracuse’s defense is big and athletic enough to contend shots from outside and Wisconsin will have to remain just as alert.

“You might think a shot is open but they’ll close quickly, so you just got to be ready for that – use shot-fakes, ball-fakes,” said guard Josh Gasser, who averages 7.7 points per game and has a team-best 45.6 shooting percentage from three.

Syracuse also is vulnerable on the offensive boards. The Orange has been liable to miss out on defensive rebounds all year due to its defensive configuration.

Back in the Round of 32, Kansas State, one of the better rebounding teams in the country, had more offensive boards, 25, than Syracuse had defensive, 23.

In the meantime, the Badgers were a middling rebounding team in Big Ten play, coming out with a minus-0.1 rebounding margin.

But although Wisconsin struggled to score against Vanderbilt’s 2-3 zone, the win might not have happened if not for two offensive rebounds by forward Jared Berggren and Gasser in the game’s last minute. Both boards gave Wisconsin a brand new shot-clock and allowed UW to drain precious time.

“You talk about zones and offensive rebounds, those were two huge ones – Berggren and Gasser’s two rebounds that were able to get us another shot-clock reset,” associate head coach Greg Gard said.

While the Badgers can count on more opportunities to put back second chances against the Orange, UW still needs to remain conscious of the way SU compensates via steals and blocked shots.

“Any zone, that’s always kind of the Achilles’ Heel,” Gard said. “They do give up some [offensive rebounds] … but they also create a lot of havoc … shot blocking, they get a lot of offense out of their defense, jumping passing lanes, deflections, disrupting offensive flow.

“There’s things they trade off for it but they’ve obviously gained a lot more than they’ve given up.”