Brandon Triche was still standing while the rest of his teammates took their seats on the bench. The senior guard pointed excitedly at Trevor Cooney – who nailed a 3-pointer moments earlier to bring the entire bench to its feet – trying to call attention to his wide-open Syracuse teammate set behind the 3-point line just feet in front of him.

But the opportunity passed and Syracuse reset its offense.

Head coach Jim Boeheim called for a set play, running Trevor Cooney off a screen to the top of the key for his second straight 3-pointer. Still standing, senior guard Brandon Triche raised his arms to signal the clutch shot as Villanova prepared to call a timeout.

“It was incredible, man, just to see him do well,” Triche said. “He missed his first (four) 3s and he ended up making the last two and it was exactly what we needed.”

Cooney’s clutch 3s broke open a hard-fought Big East game and capped a decisive six-point performance in Syracuse’s 72-61 victory over Villanova at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. A season-high 27,586 in attendance celebrated as SU earned the victory despite playing without Triche for nearly 12 minutes in the second half (foul trouble) and second-leading scorer James Southerland for the entire game (ineligible).

“I thought of all our wins in the last couple years, this was our grittiest, toughest performance I think we’ve had,” Boeheim said.

Boeheim said his team dug in defensively and battled through the early shooting struggles and a two-point halftime deficit. The head coach called forward C.J. Fair’s number out of the break, running screen after screen for him in the half-court set.

Fair responded, scoring 11 of Syracuse’s first 13 points in the half. The forward finished a tip-in, knocked down a 3-pointer and hit a pair of jumpers to inject some energy into SU.

“I knew I had to start taking what the defense was giving me,” said Fair, who finished with a game-high 22 points. “And our bigs were doing a good job setting me screens so I could curl into the middle and make a play.”

Syracuse’s lead grew to six with a pair of free throws by Fair. But Villanova didn’t back down. Wildcats center Maurice Sutton finished underneath to cut the lead to two, and his teammate Achraf Yacoubou hit a 3 to move within one with 11:16 remaining.

The teams continued to battle as Villanova cut an eight-point deficit in half with about eight minutes to play.

Then SU went on its decisive run. It started when point guard Michael Carter-Williams found Jerami Grant with a cross-court pass for an easy finish. Fair swooped in the lane for another two, and Cooney tipped away a Villanova pass to set up a Syracuse break.

Carter-Williams stopped on the left wing and rewarded the sharpshooter for his defensive effort, hitting him with a pass for a 3 from the left corner.

The point guard leaped in the air and the SU bench rose to its feet as the ball fell through. A quick Wildcats turnover set the stage for Cooney’s second 3-pointer.

“I hit the first one and then we get another stop coming down,” Cooney said, “and they set up a play and that shows you how much confidence (Boeheim) has in me and my teammates have in me too to get me the ball in that position.”

Triche believed as he watched from the bench while Syracuse set up the screen for Cooney.

Cooney drilled it to give the Orange a 61-47 lead – its largest of the game – with less than six minutes to play. DaJuan Coleman stormed off the bench to greet his teammates with his team well on its way to another win.

Triche was right there to watch SU continue its run after the timeout, cracking a smile and sharing a laugh with assistant coach Adrian Autry after another Orange bucket.

And despite going 1-for-8 from the field and watching from the sideline during the game’s crucial stretch, Triche echoed Boeheim’s assessment of the victory as one of SU’s most impressive in the last few years.

“I think this is one of the biggest wins for me in the last four years I’ve been here,” Triche said, “and I was on the bench for part of it. Everybody’s just stepping up.”

Published on January 12, 2013 at 2:27 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu