The slump, is certainly over. Gone are the bizarre air balls and torturous in-and-outs. Gone are the buildups from the crowd with each 3-point attempt that fizzled out with each 3-point miss.

Trevor Cooney has found the range from beyond the arc, and he’s doing exactly what everyone thought he would.

“I just try to get the ball to Trevor when he’s open, because I know he’s a knock-down shooter,” Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams said. “A lot of people were talking about how he was struggling shooting the ball. It was just a matter of time before he got comfortable out there. … I know as soon as he is open he’s getting the ball.”

Cooney shot 5-for-9 from 3-point range on Saturday and scored all 15 of his points from beyond the arc. It was his third consecutive game with three or more 3s and a big part of the 39 points SU scored from downtown in its 108-56 win over Monmouth on Saturday.

The redshirt freshman from Delaware came to Syracuse with a reputation as a sharpshooter. But through his first four collegiate games, Cooney had made only four of his 22 attempts and looked anxious out on the court.

The tide began to turn against Eastern Michigan earlier in the week, and it has only grown stronger since then. He hit four more 3s on Thursday against Long Beach State. Saturday he connected on a career-high five.

“I never thought he had a slump,” forward C.J. Fair said. “I just thought that he was a rushing it a little; he was so anxious to make that first one. Once he settled down and saw the first one go in I knew it was going to be a wrap.”

Cooney hit his first 3-pointer of the game against Monmouth on a shot from the wing, which once again seemed to jumpstart his confidence. And on a night where his team could do nothing wrong, Cooney capped off one of the more fortuitous plays of the evening with another 3 from the right side.

An ill-advised lob pass from Jerami Grant to DaJuan Coleman caromed off the backboard right to Baye Moussa Keita in the middle of the paint. He passed off to his right where Cooney was waiting to swish home a jumper that gave the Orange a 51-point lead with 7:31 remaining.

“I don’t think he’s ever lacked for confidence,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He’s just making some now, that’s all.”

Christmas brings defensive presence in paint

The Syracuse zone has caused its opponents fits this season. The long arms and athleticism of the guards and wings lead to easy steals and buckets in transition.

But it has also been missing a presence in the middle of the paint.

Rakeem Christmas provided that to help Syracuse pull away from Monmouth in its blowout victory on Saturday night. The SU forward finished with four blocked shots – the most since he rejected five in the season opener against San Diego State. He also added 11 points in a balanced effort in which seven players scored in double figures.

“I’m just trying to do all the things that my team wants me to do,” Christmas said, “and just go out there, block shots, get rebounds and go to the basket hard.”

Christmas was the victim of a vicious dunk by Monmouth forward Gary Cox that gave the Hawks a 13-12 lead early in the game. The 6-foot-5 Monmouth forward rolled down the court and rose up for the slam over the 6-foot-9 Christmas, who checked out for Coleman 31 seconds later.

He would return nearly five minutes later, replacing Baye Moussa Keita in the lineup with SU leading 31-21.

Christmas came through with a block soon after checking in and added two more to key a Syracuse run that helped build its eventual 29-point halftime lead.

He turned one attempt by Hawks guard Jesse Steele and followed it by pinning one by forward Ed Waite on the glass a minute later.

“I thought Rak was real good during one stretch there,” Boeheim said. “He came up, made a couple good steals, made a couple blocks, went up top then he reversed and went back underneath and got a block – which that’s good, that’s active.

“If he’s like that, he’s a force out there.”

Published on December 8, 2012 at 11:48 pm