Each time Trevor Cooney hit a 3, he acted like nothing happened. Each time he hit a 3, he casually jogged down the floor and went into a defense stance. Each time he hit a 3, his teammates stood and cheered.

He drilled seven 3s in total. Only once did he crack a smile. And it was faint.

Cooney shot 7-of-8 from downtown and 10-of-12 overall. He finished with a career-high 27 points and guided No. 8 Syracuse (1-0) to an 82-60 comeback win over a pesky Cornell (0-1) team on Friday night in front of 24,788 at the Carrier Dome.

“He is such a great shooter,” Syracuse guard Michael Gbinije said, dragging out each word for emphasis. “In my opinion one of the greatest shooters in the country.”

Cooney shot 26.7 percent from 3 last year, and looked out of his element for most of the season. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said the reason Cooney didn’t see much time last year was because of his offense, not his defense. He couldn’t get into a rhythm and many fans wrote him off before the end of his first season of play.

But this year, after one game, he’s shooting 87.5 percent from downtown. Each trey silkier than the last.

Syracuse trailed 36-24 with two minutes to go in the half. Cornell’s Nolan Cressler had 20 points, and SU was in danger of losing just its fifth season-opener in Boeheim’s 38-year career.

Cooney had other ideas.

He whizzed through the Cornell defense, brushing off Rakeem Christmas’ left shoulder after a double screen. Cooney planted his left foot and then his right, catching a pass from Gbinije and released the ball milliseconds after it entered his hands.

Splash.

On the very next play, Gbinije found Cooney again, and again Cooney drilled it. The Orange trailed by only six entering the break after falling into a 12-point hole earlier in the half.

“Those were two monster shots,” Boeheim said.

Boeheim said Cooney has always been a good shooter. Playing sporadic minutes off the bench didn’t bode well for someone who needs reps. But this year, with Brandon Triche and James Southerland gone, Syracuse needs a shooter.

Cooney said he started feeling it once he hit his first few shots. He attributed much of his success to Gbinije and starting point guard Tyler Ennis. Gbinije finished with five assists in his Syracuse debut and Ennis added seven in his first collegiate game.

“Once I got the first couple going, teammates started finding me and setting screens and I was able to get open and knock those down,” Cooney said.

The guard scored 14 points in the first half, but his production didn’t slow down in the second stanza. Ennis dribbled into the left side of the paint early in the second half. He swiveled his torso and hit Cooney in stride.

The rest was just a formality. Cooney started running to the other end before the ball even fell through the net.

The basket gave Syracuse a 42-40 lead — its first since the score was 16-15 — and forced Cornell to call a timeout. Cooney glided off the court, getting love from his teammates and the fans.

But he wasn’t quite done. Cooney hit two treys in the next two minutes. On the second one, he finally cracked a smile, high-fiving Baye Moussa Keita as he backpedaled downcourt. He found openings where none were supposed to exist, nailing 3s from improbable angles.

“He shoots like that every day,” Ennis said.

But never before in games. Cooney has never shot like that at Syracuse. With 12 minutes left in the half, Cooney flaunted another improved element of his game. He deflected an errant pass from Darryl Smith and sent it the other way. Cooney scampered after and corralled the loose ball, took three dribbles and threw it down with authority.

Two possessions later, he hit a contested fadeaway jumper that was simply ludicrous. Cooney popped out from the corner, dribbled and unleashed a high-arcing shot.

He sprawled onto his back, falling into the scorers’ table. Part of his arm disappeared underneath the blue curtain.

And then came Cooney’s curtain call. Fans cheered for close to 30 seconds as he trotted off the court in the same casual manner in which he carried himself all game.

The fadeaway capped a 20-4 run that turned a Syracuse deficit into a 64-48 lead. SU’s first half struggles were long gone.

On a day where Syracuse needed a spark, Cooney provided one. He was the sharpshooter the Orange needed to carry it out of its rut.

“He was a game-saver for us,” forward C.J. Fair said. “Without his 3s, I don’t think we pull this game out. He came up big when we needed him.”

Published on November 8, 2013 at 8:55 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass