Syracuse never trailed in a 84-53 win over Long Beach State. Here are a few thoughts from the game:
1. Trevor’s confidence is starting to come around
There is a buzz each time Trevor Cooney has even a little day light to shoot the ball. It’s a little unfair to hail Cooney as the second coming of Andy Rautins or Gerry McNamara, but that is what the Syracuse faithful expect from the redshirt sophomore from Delaware. After a rough start to the season, Cooney’s finally starting to deliver, going 3-7 from downtown for 11 points. That’s two good shooting games in a row now. “[I’m feeling] a lot better,” Cooney said. “I’m coming out here and just playing hard. I’m not really worrying about making shots or anything like that. I’m just concentrating on being active on defense and the shots will fall.”
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2. Welcome back, CJ
Did anyone else in Cuse nation breathe a little sigh of relief after seeing Fair’s performance? Fair had turned in a few lackluster performances recently, and was settling for his outside jumper. Tonight, he had plenty of buckets inside, and also collected a career-high 13 rebounds. “I told myself I’m going to go for every rebound,” Fair said. “I know that there’s going to be opportunities. The main reason was because Michael [Carter-Williams] was leading us in rebounding and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I didn’t like that (laughing).”
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3. Boeheim knows how to push the right buttons
Midway through the first half, Rakeem Christmas missed a defensive assignment, and Long Beach State capitalized on a 3. Boeheim called timeout, and got in Christmas’ ear for the entire timeout. Christmas responded with dunks on consecutive possessions and finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds. “He just did not make two plays on the defense that I thought he could have made. He didn’t react well,” Boeheim said. “Then he got in good position.” That is how you win 897 games.
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