ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On the same night that Syracuse played its best game of the season, Trevor Cooney had his best performance of the year.

It was hardly a coincidence. The Orange tied the game after trailing by 10 with seven minutes remaining. And while the SU (5-2) comeback ultimately fell short in a 68-65 loss to No. 17 Michigan (6-1) on Tuesday, it was led by the veteran guard the Orange needs.

From the 6:56 mark through when Rakeem Christmas tied the game at 63 with 56 seconds remaining, Cooney shot 2-of-4 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range while adding an assist. It was the highlight stretch of his season-high 16-point performance.

“We got him some open looks, he’ll make them,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He’s made them over the years, but he hasn’t really gotten any.”

The Orange effectively lost the game on a pair of turnovers by its freshman starters, Chris McCullough and Kaleb Joseph, in the game’s final 15 seconds. But it was a game SU would have been out of without Cooney’s performance.

With 4:35 remaining, Cooney threw up a 3-pointer from about 25 feet out with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. It missed, but 64 seconds later, he drained a 3 from nearly as deep to bring the Orange to within four at 61-57.

With the eventual loss, though, Syracuse dropped to its first defeat with Cooney scoring in double digits since March 1 of last season, when the Orange fell to then-No. 12 Virginia while he scored 12 points. And with Cooney’s brought his 3-point percentage up to 31 percent on the season by shooting 4-of-9 shooting from deep.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting him in open situations,” Boeheim said. “If he’s open he’ll make a good percentage.”

Published on December 3, 2014 at 12:25 am

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_