PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Trevor Cooney ran in from the top of the key and grabbed a defensive rebound just inside the 3-point arc. The defense cleared as he brought the ball up the court and Pittsburgh’s Jamel Artis was helpless as Cooney pulled up from a couple feet behind the arc and drained a 3.

His shot cut Syracuse’s deficit to 15-13 with just eight minutes gone by in the first half and continued an outside rebirth that has spanned the past three games.

“Trevor was really good, he made some plays for us,” Syracuse interim head coach Mike Hopkns said. “He made some shots, and that’s what we need from him.

Cooney tied Tyler Roberson with a team-high 15 points. He’s made 10 of his last 19 3-pointers after enduring a stretch of missing 11 straight. He also collected six rebounds, played strong defense in the zone and was actively looking for his shot in Syracuse’s (10-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) 72-61 loss to Pittsburgh (11-1, 1-0) at the Petersen Events Center.

“He’s been fighting on both ends of the floor,” guard Franklin Howard said. “He’s getting denied and trapped every possession down the floor. He fights for every shot. I’m glad he’s starting to hit them.”

Syracuse was either trailing or tied throughout the entire first half, but right after the Orange got on top to start the second, Cooney helped build on that lead. He hit a catch-and-shoot 3 from the corner to put Syracuse up 37-32. On two of his three 3-pointers, he used a quick release with a defender trailing him on the move.

On the other side of the ball, Hopkins said Cooney was disrupting Pittsburgh, which shot 34.4 percent from the field in the first half. His five boards in the opening 20 minutes were also crucial as Syracuse big men Dajuan Coleman and Tyler Lydon both picked up two fouls before the break.

Twice the Pittsburgh student section started an arena-wide “Cooney’s balding” chant. His parents, who were sitting in the front row behind the Orange bench started to laugh. He was unfazed as the Oakland Zoo student section repeated the insult over and over.

“We were aggressive,” Cooney said. “I’m really, really proud of the way we played.”

Cooney said Syracuse wanted to get in transition because of how dangerous Pittsburgh’s defense is in the halfcourt set. All three of his long balls came with the Panthers able to defend it, but he made them anyway.

He lost his offense in the latter part of the game when the Orange began to struggle. He clanked an ugly 3-pointer on the cusp of Syracuse giving up its eight-point second-half lead. When the Orange had the ball down six and just over a minute to play, he made a bad pass that led to a Pittsburgh dunk.

His offense reflected Syracuse as a whole — strong for the most part, but weak at the very last gasp of the game.

But much of Syracuse’s success for the first 35 minutes hinged on the play of Cooney. He finished off the ACC season a year ago by making just six of his final 41 from behind the arc. This start of this conference season has found a different fortune, even if the final result still left the senior guard sullen by the final result.

“Trev played real good tonight,” Malachi Richardson said. “He was able to get a lot of key shots for us and made a lot of tough moves to the basket to get fouled and knock the free throws down. He’s one of our leaders.”

Published on December 31, 2015 at 12:58 am

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3