Trevor Cooney kept getting the same question hurled at him, over and over again.

He’s played so well against Notre Dame in his career. A game with nine 3-pointers in 2014. A game where he scored nine clutch points down the stretch to finish off a monumental upset in 2015. And then, on Thursday night, a game-high 22 points to spark, and eventually close, another game-defining performance and another win against the Fighting Irish.

So many questions sounded the same, fitting into a perfect Notre Dame-killing narrative. And Cooney answered each modestly, lacking a concrete explanation for the pattern of success.

“I don’t know what it is,” Cooney said. “I don’t know. … Every game’s big and I was just able to make shots today.”

Cooney sparked a 26-3 rally against No. 25 Notre Dame on Thursday night, scoring 10 points during that stretch. He proved to be the catalyst of the Orange’s (14-8, 4-5 Atlantic Coast) 81-66 win over the Fighting Irish (14-6, 5-3) on Thursday night in the Carrier Dome.

He continued a conference-season renaissance where he’s made 21 of his past 54 attempts from behind the arc. And did it by beating up on a team that he always seems to beat up on.

“He had a lot of big stops on defense,” Tyler Lydon said about Cooney. “Made some big plays offensively. Just knocking down shots and staying aggressive, it’s what he does.”

Cooney started out his night by draining a catch-and-shoot jumper just 45 seconds into the game. The only problem was he was called for a travel before releasing his shot. The beginning to yet another Notre Dame breakout would have to wait.

He made his first actual shot of the game when he attacked the rim and watched as his shot rolled there before falling in. Not more than six minutes later, he already had 10 points, and the Orange was up by 18.

“Offensively, Trevor got us going,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.

His best play of the night came when the rest of the Syracuse players on the court had retreated back on defense, except Cooney. UND’s Bonzie Colson tried to outlet a pass to Steve Vasturia, but Cooney read it well, intercepted the ball and scored as Colson fouled him attempting to make up for the mistake.

Cooney’s contributions were more limited in the second half, but by then Syracuse was never in danger of giving up a lead that hovered near 20 points.

Richardson said that Cooney’s abilities are what typically jumpstart the offense. And after the Fighting Irish got out to 5-0 lead, Cooney’s willingness to get to the rim, play defense and shoot from long range gave the Orange a big enough lead to ensure it never got close.

After the game, Boeheim joked that Cooney and former SU star and current assistant coach Gerry McNamara were always Notre Dame killers — McNamara hit a game-winning 3 against the Irish during the 2003 championship season. The coincidence added another dimension to an almost inexplicable slew of results against a team can’t do anything to change it.

When asked about the McNamara comparison and what the continued dominance means, Cooney was as unknowing as the questioning reporter.

“I don’t know,” Cooney said. “I don’t know. I have no idea.”

Published on January 28, 2016 at 11:31 pm

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