The Syracuse redshirt sophomore had one heck of a game Monday in a victory over Notre Dame. To help relive the magic TNIAAM turned to everyone's social media friend Vine.
Behind a collegiate-best 33 points from shooting guard Trevor Cooney, the newly established No. 1-ranked Syracuse Orange were able to hold off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 61-55, in an ACC showdown at the Carrier Dome.
Cooney was literally the only reason SU improved its record to an unblemished 22-0, and his show will go down in Orange lore as one to remember. If you missed it or would like to relive it all, here are ALL THE TREVOR COONEY 3S!!
Okay, it was all but one of his program-record nine 3-pointers. Sorry, I just couldn't help toss in that grin.
Overall, Mr. Cooney was a red hot 11-for-15 from the field, including 9-for-12 behind the 3-point line. That's a long-distance shooting performance we haven't seen since James Southerland nailed nine 3s en route to a 35-point performance against the Arkansas Razorbacks last season.
Meanwhile, while Cooney was getting over his cold streak he might have passed it on to C.J. Fair, who's day looked like this.
Urg. Fair followed-up his best night as an Orange -- 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting against Duke (oh, and he added five rebounds and three assists) -- with a six-point, 2-for-13 outing against Notre Dame. This was just the second time all season Fair had been held to single digits. The other time was six points against St. Francis on Nov. 18, a game in which Syracuse also struggled to put away an underdog.
In the end, Fair's poor performance was masked by Cooney's one-man show, which proved this SU team has so many different ways to beat an opponent.
Just think back to Saturday. Duke's performance would have beaten pretty much any other team in the nation (Jay Bilas said so, so it must be true), and on Monday, Notre Dame made things difficult. The Orange probably should have lost with the way Fair, Jerami Grant and Tyler Ennis played. But, no, Cooney -- the fourth leg of the tripod -- saved the day. It is nice to have that many tools.
Anyway, onto the Clemson Tigers, who visit the Carrier Dome on Sunday night (6 p.m.). Hopefully, this video of an Ennis to Grant alley-oop will spark a fire under the rest of the Orange.
