C.J. Fair couldn’t believe his game was going that way. The shots all felt right, but his usually smooth lefty stroke wasn’t yielding any results.

And to make matters worse, he was coming off probably the best game of his career. A 28-point performance against Duke, during which he got to the rim with ease and sank nearly every jumper he took.

Pat Connaughton and Notre Dame, though, found a way to stop the senior.

“They packed the paint in, so it was hard to drive,” Fair said. “I wasn’t making any jump shots, so it was hard to really do anything because I’m doing exactly what he wanted — I’m missing.”

Less than 48 hours after scoring a career high against the then-No. 17 Blue Devils, Fair managed just six points on 2-of-13 shooting against the Fighting Irish (12-11, 3-7 Atlantic Coast). Top-ranked Syracuse (22-0, 9-0) managed to pull out a 61-55 win on Monday in front of 25,850 in the Carrier Dome despite the struggles of Fair, as well as Jerami Grant and Tyler Ennis, who combined for just 15 points.

Aside from Trevor Cooney, who scored a career-high 33 and made nine 3-pointers, the Orange managed just 28 points and shot 31.3 percent from the field.

“We missed some shots — other than Trevor — that we usually make,” Ennis said. “And it happens.”

The shots didn’t fall, but the Irish’s defense was also relentless. Like Duke did with its guards on Saturday, UND pressured Ennis with Eric Atkins and packed the paint to stop Grant and Fair from getting to the rim.

Notre Dame switched to man-to-man when Cooney got hot — a loose man-to-man that SU head coach Jim Boeheim said he expects to see more frequently for the rest of the season — and the Orange’s big three deferred the ball to a barrage of Cooney 3s.

“Every time he made a 3 I just said, ‘Thank you,’” Fair said, “and, like, ‘Get me out of here,’ before I make myself look worse.”

Of course, Cooney’s night may have never happened if it weren’t for Fair’s night two days earlier. The Irish had to make sure the forward didn’t beat them the same way he beat the Blue Devils. Cooney was a secondary concern.

Notre Dame forced Fair to settle for jump shots, and he wasn’t able to hit any. His six points came from a pair of free throws, an up-and-under move from the left elbow and a ferocious putback slam.

“(Boeheim) told me to try to get going doing other things,” Fair said, “but it was hard to do other things the way they were playing.”

Monday’s six points were the fewest Fair has scored this season and just the second time he’s failed to crack double digits. He managed just seven points during Syracuse’s scare against St. Francis (N.Y.) back in November. He was held to 2-of-13 shooting in that one, too.

Fair blamed a couple of things, including some fatigue and the Fighting Irish’s style of defense. But Boeheim viewed it as just one of those nights.

Fair’s day against Duke was exceptional because he was scoring from inside and out. When when he couldn’t get to the rim, he managed to score 13 points on jump shots alone.

“He just wasn’t shooting well today,” Boeheim said Monday. “It’s going to happen. He had one game like this earlier in the year. I think he should be allowed a couple.”

So, like Fair said, it was a combination of things. He wasn’t getting enough lift on his jump shots and failed to get inside to even attempt a layup.

But there will always be days like this. Last time he scored in the single digits, he followed it up with a 16-point performance against Minnesota on nearly 50-percent shooting.

Syracuse still managed to get the victory, so all he can do now is move on.

“Today felt rough just because I wasn’t playing the way I could have and then a lot of things get to your head,” Fair said. “I’ve just got to refocus for the next game.”

Published on February 4, 2014 at 12:02 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2