This time there was no unexpected suspension. There was no first-half scare and Syracuse didn’t need any surprising heroics.

Instead, Syracuse’s second game of the season went exactly as anticipated. The Orange was at full strength and held a commanding halftime lead. Trevor Cooney had cooled off, but C.J. Fair took his place as the star of the day. Even a late push by Fordham wasn’t quite enough to qualify as a scare during an 89-74 SU victory.

“We had a very good first half,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “We just have to look at what we did the second half and try to work on that.”

Tuesday featured all the drama of a usual opening-week game for No. 9 Syracuse. Jerami Grant was in his typical role as sixth man. The Orange (2-0) cruised to a 46-21 halftime lead over the Rams. Fair scored a career-high 26 points. Fordham (1-1) cut the lead to as slim as 12 in the second half, but there were never more than murmurs of restlessness from the 22,667 that trekked through the snow to the Carrier Dome. From wire-to-wire, SU had control.

Almost 15 minutes into the game, Fair had matched the Rams’ scoring output. Minutes earlier, Grant was in the same position. Fordham missed its first nine 3-pointers to drain any drama from this upset bid in a hurry.

“It did feel good when everything was going our way,” Fair said.

After a layup by Tyler Ennis to start things off, Fair went to work doing what he does best. He knocked down a baseline jumper from the right side and followed it up with another mid-range score moments later. Two minutes after, Fair drilled his first 3 of the game.

He hit another jumper to bring his total to nine with 13:09 left in the first half — a number that Fordham wouldn’t reach until seven minutes later.

“He scores almost every time he touches the ball,” Grant said, “so it’s definitely great to have a high-profile guy like him.”

Turnovers, though, were once again an issue. Fair turned the ball over seven times in the opener and followed it up with a four-turnover first half against the Rams.

He knew coming into this season that he would have a greater role as a creator.

“I knew I was going to have to handle the ball a little more and create more offense for myself,” Fair said.

So he had to work on everything. Shooting. Passing. But especially ball-handling.

Some of the turnovers have been careless — he’s tried to start transition too quickly at times — but other times he’s just gotten out of his element.

In the second half, he remedied the one issue that’s plagued him in the earliest stages of the season.

“I don’t want to be known as turnover prone,” Fair said.

And when Fordham started to come back, it meant he was the most obvious option to counter the run.

With 3:33 remaining, the Rams showed signs of life. The lead was down to 12 and Syracuse needed a bucket.

Fordham leaned on Branden Frazier and Jon Severe, who finished with 33 and 19 points, respectively, to charge back and make the second half a frame that frustrated the Orange.

“There’s a lesson learned here,” Boeheim said, “if you don’t guard people — every team has guys that can shoot.”

But SU had a trump card. A pair of Rakeem Christmas free throws stretched the lead back to 14. Grant blocked a shot on the other end and Fair started transition.

The forward set up on the right wing. He pump-faked and headed to the rim. Fair drew contact and finished. And-one. Twenty-three seconds later he hit another jumper. He had a career-high 26 and the Orange had a 19-point lead.

This time, Syracuse didn’t need any heroics from Cooney — who had just two points. It could have cruised without Grant. Fair and the Orange disposed of a lesser opponent in the fashion that SU has made customary during November.

“We played a very efficient first half. We were very good offensively,” Boeheim said. “If we didn’t play really well it would’ve been a lot closer game and if they made that run it would’ve been a difficult game.”

Published on November 12, 2013 at 9:31 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2