C.J. Fair doesn’t usually find himself in foul trouble. He’s never fouled out before, and had only racked up four fouls in five of 140 games.

Tuesday night was the sixth time. Fair picked up his fourth foul at the 10:46 mark in the second half and sat out for the next five minutes.

“That’s something I’m usually not worried about,” Fair said.

In his absence, though, No. 4 Syracuse (8-0) upped its lead from 14 points to 18, fending off Indiana’s (6-2) comeback attempt en route to a 69-52 win. With its superstar on the bench, SU responded and didn’t miss a beat.

Ennis and Cooney carried the scoring load during that stretch, as they did all night. Cooney found Ennis for a layup to bump the lead to 50-36.

Minutes later, the inevitable “Hoosier daddy?” chant echoed throughout the Carrier Dome as Syracuse continued to increase its lead.

With Fair sill nestled on the bench, Trevor Cooney’s thunderous slam sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Michael Gbinije filled in during Fair’s stint on the sideline. Syracuse played Ennis, Cooney and Gbinije together, coping with the temporary loss of Fair.

“Mike Gbinije came in there and played the forward position very well,” Fair said.

SU has proven it can win when Fair’s the star and when he’s not. On Tuesday he played well, but foul trouble sent him to the bench and paved the way for Ennis and Cooney to shine.

“Every team comes with a different method to get us into foul trouble,” Syracuse center Baye Moussa Keita said. “Tonight was a little bit different.”

Published on December 4, 2013 at 3:51 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass