CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Tyler Ennis and Trevor Cooney are mostly known for their offense.

And for good reason. Both average in double figures, move well with and without the ball and shoot very well. They also play well together.

But what often gets overlooked is the way the duo plays defense, creating havoc in passing lanes atop the 2-3 zone. That skill set was on full display Monday night at Conte Forum as No. 2 Syracuse (17-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) avoided an upset in a 69-59 win over Boston College (5-12, 1-3).

Ennis snared a career-high six steals, Cooney added three and the pair held BC guard Olivier Hanlan to a 2-of-7 performance from the field.

“(Tyler) and Trevor are doing a good job being in the passing lane and causing steals,” forward C.J. Fair said. “That’s what we need out of them.”

Hanlan, who came into Monday’s game averaging 19.5 points, was rendered completely ineffective. He was 0-of-5 from downtown, and was relegated to a pass-first point guard.

Whenever he tried to enter the paint on the right side of the zone, Ennis was there. And whenever he tried to squeeze through the left, Cooney blanketed him.

In the first half, Ennis swerved into the passing lane to break up an errant pass. He tossed the ball ahead to Cooney, who slammed it home for two.

It’s what Ennis has done all season, closing gaps on defense and turning defense into offense.

“His defense has been great on top of the 2-3,” Cooney said. “When he’s active he gets deflections, he gets steals and we get on the fast break. We’ve got to do that to be a good team.”

On the next play, Cooney snatched one of his own, intercepting Hanlan’s pass and racing the other way for another flush.

He wasn’t done. Cooney stole yet another pass and converted yet another dunk to bump Syracuse’s lead to 32-23.

“He played a lot of minutes, especially being under the weather,” Ennis said of Cooney. “He’s an underrated defender, and a lot of people don’t know how active he is.”

On a night where SU head coach Jim Boeheim called SU’s offense as bad as it’s been all season, Syracuse scored 19 points in transition and 32 in the paint.

Getting out on the break helped the Orange crank out a lead and pull away in the game’s final minutes.

Published on January 14, 2014 at 4:00 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass