CHICAGO — Trevor Cooney had the easiest layup he would get all day. A nearly wide-open look at the basket as he blew by a defender. He’d already made a running floater in the first half and a circus shot — by his standards — while driving to the basket.

This one was wide open, though. And it was important too. With Syracuse down by six and 4:28 to play, Cooney couldn’t afford to miss. But the Syracuse fans watching from that side of the basket groaned as they saw his attempt sit on the front rim and roll off in to Silas Melson’s hands.

All game, Trevor Cooney was shut off from his shot along the perimeter. He took it to the basket at will, and despite his one ugly miss, found more success than usual when he did so.

“I was able to get in the lane and make plays,” Cooney said. “I wanted to be aggressive and attack the rim and attack the defense. I was able to do that early and I got comfortable doing it.”

On the season, Cooney is just a 32.4 percent shooter from inside the arc, the worst of any of SU’s rotation players. But against Gonzaga, he scored eight points in the paint and made several really important shots to keep Syracuse (22-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) in a game that it didn’t a grasp on until the very end.

Next up, he’ll face Virginia (29-7, 13-5). That’s a team that he’s made just four of his last 16 3-pointers against. A team that has the fourth-best defensive efficiency in the country, per Kenpom.com.

“With really good players and really good teams, it all comes down to the same stuff: You just try to make them earn it,” UVA head coach Tony Bennett said about Cooney and Syracuse. “They have to earn their looks. You don’t allow them to the best of your abilities to get easy looks.”

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When teams close out on Cooney hard on the 3-point line, it makes it a lot easier for him to put the ball on the floor, Malachi Richardson said. That’s partly why he only took two long-range shots, when he’s taken 100 more 3s this year than 2s.

It was all in a team-wide strategy to attack the basket on Friday night. Eighteen of Michael Gbinije’s 23 shots were from inside the arc. Richardson had less than half of his from 3. Tyler Lydon had only one attempt.

“We’ve been playing that way the last couple of games,” Cooney said. “People will get in the lane and make plays for each other. We’re at our best when Mike’s attacking, I’m attacking, Malachi’s attacking. We’re able to make plays for other guys and find the open person.”

Cooney said that in order to beat Virginia, he can’t be the same player that he was when he missed continually from outside the 3-point line. He’ll have to get to the basket more. That’s something, even if he’s not been good at it statistically, will need to be a part of his game. It will need to be a part of every guard’s game.

Published on March 26, 2016 at 7:28 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3