In one half on Saturday, Tyler Ennis committed more turnovers than he had in a single game all season. His passes weren’t as crisp and his decisions weren’t as smart.

In that same half, Trevor Cooney’s shot looked more like it did during his freshman season than during his breakout sophomore campaign. He didn’t air ball any, but most of his 3-point attempts never had a chance of going down.

Syracuse had control against North Carolina, but the backcourt had nothing to do with it.

“We’ll have a tremendous number of tough, tough nights and it’s how we react to those, how we get through those,” said SU head coach Jim Boeheim.
The Orange’s (16-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) backcourt was pegged as a question mark in the preseason, but for one of the first times this season Ennis and Cooney played like the inexperienced duo they truly are. Ennis committed a season-high four turnovers and Cooney went just 2-for-12 from beyond the arc, but No. 2 Syracuse was still able to dispatch the Tar Heels (10-6, 0-3) for a convincing 57-45 victory in front of 32,121 in the Carrier Dome.

The disastrous first halves for the two gave way to improved final frames, especially from Ennis, and helped SU bust open a game of which it already held firm control.

Ennis’ first half was an uncharacteristic display of absent-minded passes and overzealous decisions. He threw a ball away in transition. He tried an over-the-shoulder dump off to Rakeem Christmas. He made a lazy pass to Jerami Grant that was deflected and went out of bounds off the forward.

“Tyler had more turnovers than he had all year,” Boeheim said, “but he figured it out.”

He didn’t commit any giveaways in the second half and managed to finish with a game-high seven assists.

“I don’t remember the turnovers. That’s just the player he is,” Cooney said. “He has the ball in his hands so much that a turnover is going to happen, but it doesn’t happen often.

“Stuff like that doesn’t bother him and it didn’t tonight.”

The guard stopped trying to make the spectacular play in front of a raucous crowd and settled into his usual groove. He got to the basket off high ball screens and finished at the rim with his usual consistency.

His backcourt mate Cooney, however, struggled to find any sort of rhythm.

The crowd started chanting his name late in the first half and he responded with a mid-range jump shot. Then he hit a 3 early in the second half. Maybe that would get him going.

“He’s one of the best shooters in the country and we expect him to score,” Ennis said.

But then he missed a layup. And another jumper. He went just 1-for-4 from the arc the rest of the day. The bright spots were rare and he was never able to get himself going offensively.

“I hit that shot, and then I missed an easy layup. That’s just how it was today,” Cooney said. “The only good thing about shooting like I did today is that I get to bounce back and play Monday.”

On Saturday, it didn’t matter. The rest of the team was able to pick up the struggling shooter.

UNC has struggled this season, but still has a roster loaded with former McDonald’s All-Americans and future NBA players. Syracuse’s backcourt has become a strength this season. Against North Carolina, SU was able to win without Ennis and Cooney providing a major contribution.

“Luckily we’re a well-balanced team and when he does get going, it’s going to just be that much better for us,” said C.J. Fair.

Syracuse used big first halves from Fair and Grant to counteract Cooney’s struggles during the first half, but Grant didn’t score in the second. Ennis was there to pick up the slack then.

With less than seven minutes remaining, the guard gave the Orange its largest lead of the day. The freshman drove the baseline and fired a pass through the lane to Fair, who dropped in a layup that stretched the lead to 19. Cooney and Ennis both struggled, but only one needed to remedy his issues to put away the Tar Heels with ease.

“You don’t really got to worry about Tyler. I don’t think Coach worries either,” Fair said. “If he does make a mistake, he knows why it was a mistake and he’ll learn from it.”

Published on January 11, 2014 at 6:09 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2