Mike Hopkins exploded out of his chair and threw his notecards into the air and out onto the court.

The Syracuse assistant coach was livid after Rakeem Christmas bricked a short lefty hook shot off the backboard 1:44 into the second half. He flailed his arms on the bench as Baye Moussa Keita quickly scooped the cards off the court and attempted to calm Hopkins.

Hopkins and Christmas had spent most of the preseason working in the post — and on that play, Christmas looked more like how he played last season.

But he wasn’t alone. Trevor Cooney was ice cold from beyond the arc and C.J. Fair disappeared offensively. No. 2 Syracuse (14-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) stuck to its Big East roots Saturday, but showed gritty resolve in coming back to edge Miami (8-6, 0-2) 49-44 in front of 21,839 in the Carrier Dome.

The Orange shot just 36.2 percent against the Hurricanes’ persistent matchup zone, fronted by 6-foot-6 guards Garrius Adams, Rion Brown and Davon Reed. It took a 14-4 run over the final 6:11 to overcome the Orange’s 8:50 second-half field-goal drought and keep the team undefeated.

“Defenses like that are tough to play against, because it’s just like, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’” Cooney said. “I might go to the other side, they might switch it. They might not switch it. Teams that are long and athletic like they are, they can do that.”

After taking a 25-21 lead into halftime, the Orange stumbled out the gate in the second half.

Miami freshman guard Manu Lecomte hit a 3-pointer and a runner as the Hurricanes opened the second half on a 14-4 run. A Brown jumper with 12:23 left rounded out the stretch and pushed the lead to 35-29.

And as the SU fans stood clapping, waiting for a field goal to sit down, SU struggled to find an answer. Its two leading scorers, Fair and Cooney, were floundering. Fair went 17:33 without a field goal, spanning from the 8:43 mark in the first half to the 11:50 mark in the second. Cooney, who finished 2-of-12 from beyond the arc, missed seven straight 3-pointers.

“If Trevor shoots the way he normally shoots, we would’ve been fine,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He gets 12 3s, he makes six usually. He had good looks. He didn’t have to rush it, but he’s going to have games like that and we have to find a way to get around that.”

It wasn’t until Fair grabbed an offensive rebound — off a Cooney miss — and made a corner 3 with 11:10 to play that the fans could sit down. And that only brought SU within 35-32.

The Miami zone was stifling.

“Having that length and defensively having a lot of help makes it difficult to get in lanes and make plays for others,” SU point guard Tyler Ennis said.

Finally, with 5:26 left and SU trailing 40-37, the momentum swung. Christmas read a backdoor lob from Lecomte to Tonye Jekiri and combined with Jerami Grant to deny the alley-oop finish.

Moments later, Grant hit a jumper from the free-throw line to pull SU within one.

“Nobody really got rattled,” Fair said. “We were just looking for that one play to get over the hump, and Rak made it.”

Then Fair made two. He drew a charge on Lecomte and got to the rim at the other end.

Ennis followed with a pair of layups, including a skillful scoop, as SU regained its lead and pushed it to 45-42 with 2:01 remaining.

The scare officially ended when Ennis knocked down two more free throws with eight seconds left.

After the game, players described the contest as ugly and gritty. But they also expressed pride in the team’s ability to close out a tough game.

It’ll be the first of many this conference season. And with the success the Hurricanes had with their matchup zone, it’s likely the Orange will see plenty more of it.

Said Boeheim: “When you get into league play, you’re going to have games like this. It’s not easy. In a low-scoring game, both teams have a good chance to win.”

Published on January 4, 2014 at 4:21 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1