SU tops Georgetown in OT, Boeheim third all-time in coaching wins

SYRACUSE — Kris Joseph has heard the critics.

He’s too soft. He’s not a take-charge, clutch guy. He’s not the Syracuse player you want with the ball in his hands with the game on the line.

For one game at least, the talented senior forward proved all the naysayers wrong with a career-defining performance Wednesday night in the Carrier Dome.

Joseph scored a career-high 29 points, and drained the game-winning, 3-point field goal with 26.9 seconds left in overtime, to give the No. 2 Orange a heart-stopping 64-61 Big East Conference men’s basketball victory over No. 12 Georgetown.

With the win, SU coach Jim Boeheim passed legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith for third on the all-time NCAA Division I wins list with 880.

In a typical down-to-the wire battle between the Orange (24-1, 11-1) and Hoyas (18-5, 8-4), it was Joseph who made one big play after another to rescue SU from yet another poor-shooting performance.

“I’m a senior and one of the leaders. That’s what I’m supposed to do,” said Joseph, who hit a career-best six 3-pointers. “I felt in rhythm tonight. My mechanics have been good even though I haven’t shot well lately. But my coaches and teammates told me just to keep shooting.”

Boeheim put it succinctly. “Kris bailed us out because nobody else shot very well. Yesterday in practice was the first time he looked really comfortable, and we hoped it would carry over.”

Seven-foot sophomore center Fab Melo also played a huge role in SU’s fifth win in the last seven meetings with Georgetown. Melo scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked six shots. And his defensive presence underneath in the final minutes of regulation and overtime was game-changing.

“My job is to protect the basket, and I think I did a good job tonight,” said Melo, playing his second game after sitting out three with academic issues. “My teammates trust me to do the job back there, and I don’t want to let them down.”

After a 55-55 tie after regulation, Joseph gave the Orange an early lead with a driving hoop in overtime.

But the Hoyas eventually seized a 61-59 edge on freshman Otto Porter’s jumper with 2:15 remaining.

SU sophomore Dion Waiters hit both ends of a 1-and-1 at the 1:20 mark. Melo then forced a Henry Sims miss on the defensive end as the clock wound under a minute.

Boeheim called time, hoping to get something going to the basket.

Senior point guard Scoop Jardine, who had a strong second half with six assists, penetrated toward the hoop and then looked for an open man.

“Fab was open for a second, then I saw Kris in the opposite corner,” Jardine said.

Joseph caught the ball ready to shoot, and rattled home a 3-pointer as the crowd of 27,820 went nuts.

“We had three options at the end, and I was one,” Joseph said. “For some reason they left me open, and I shot it right in rhythm. There was no way I was going to miss that shot.”

Georgetown coach John Thompson said his defense “made a mistake by not covering Joseph. He’s too good a player to miss a look as good as that.”

After Joseph’s 3-pointer, Georgetown still had plenty of time to answer. But, senior Jason Clark stumbled while dribbling, and Jardine reached in and knocked the ball off Clark’s leg out of bounds as the clock wound down to 4.9 seconds.

Waiters missed a chance to ice the game when he missed two free throws with 2.2 seconds left. But the Hoyas could only heave the ball down the court as the final buzzer sounded.

“We knew it would be a grind-it-out kind of game, and probably come down to two or three plays,” Waiters said. “Kris showed tonight why he’s one of the best players in the Big East.”

It was the 10th time that Syracuse and Georgetown went to overtime since the inception of the Big East in 1980.

In a game that saw 18 lead changes and 15 ties, and no lead greater than six points, this one was destined for extra time.

A Joseph 3-pointer with 4:37 left in regulation gave SU its biggest lead, 54-48. But the Orange would not score again before overtime.

Clark made his only two 3-pointers in the final two minutes, and freshman Greg Whittington tied it at 55-all with a free throw.

SU played for the final shot. But Waiters was forced to fire up a deep three that had little chance of going in.

“We could have handled those last four minutes of regulation better,” Joseph said. “But our defense saved us and gave us another chance.”

Despite the win, Boeheim was extremely agitated about yet another abysmal rebounding effort. Georgetown outboarded SU, 52-35, grabbing 23 offensive rebounds, which Boeheim deemed “unacceptable.”

“It’s a disaster to get outrebounded by that much at this stage of the season,” Boeheim said. “You can miss shots, but not giving enough effort (on the boards) is the sign of a bad team. Right now we’re not a good team, and we can’t beat a quality team unless we improve.”

SU shot just 29 percent the first half, missing eight of its first nine shots, but still trailed just 31-27 at halftime.

The Orange began the second half on an 8-0 run, but could not sustain the momentum.

“The second half were got better penetration and some kick outs for good looks,” Boeheim said. “And fortunately Kris made most of his. You’d think we would attack their zone better because we face it every day in practice.”

Joseph said it was a case of feeling comfortable and taking what Georgetown offered. “If that means taking more shots, so be it. But I’m not going to change my game just because people say I should,” he said.

Porter led Georgetown with 14 points, while Clark added 12 and Hollis Thompson 10.

If this is, indeed, the final Georgetown visit to the Dome because of SU’s impending move to the ACC, Joseph said that would be sad.

“It’s a great rivalry and always a hard, tough game,” Joseph said. “Playing high school ball in the D.C. area, I know how much it meant to Georgetown fans. And the last four years here how big it was for Orange fans.”

SU next welcomes Connecticut to the Dome for a 1 p.m. tip-off Saturday.