ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. –– Boardwalk Hall became the comfortable Carrier Dome for Kris Joseph. Even if the Dome wasn’t as kind to Joseph as expected in Syracuse’s first four games of the season.

‘This gym kind of resembles the Dome with the open space in the back,’ Joseph said. ‘So I kept shooting.’

Keep shooting, he did.

Joseph lit up the legendary spacious confines of the Boardwalk Hall for a season-high 22 points, carrying No. 9 Syracuse (5-0) to a 53-50 win over Michigan (3-1) in the semifinal round of the Legends Classic Friday. With the win, SU will play Georgia Tech Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in the championship game. But none of it would have happened without Joseph’s breakout-performance of the season.

And none of it would have happened if he didn’t carry SU in an ugly offensive game. In front of an Orange-dominated crowd of 6,273, the National Historic Landmark on the beach became home — in the form of the Carrier Dome — for the 6-foot-7 forward. Entering Friday’s contest, Joseph was averaging just 11.3 points per game on 11-of-35 shooting (31.4 percent) from the field.

The sparse crowd provided a familiar emptiness which gave the struggling wing his chance to carry SU. The unique airy confines separating the court from its 81-year old stage became the deep backdrop similar to the Dome’s. And because of the resemblance, his methodical shooting exhibition ensued. One that a starving offensive SU team needed to claw back against the Wolverines.

‘Our real problem is not our defense, it is our offense,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘It is not where we need it to be. We are struggling shooting the ball from the perimeter.’

After shooting a paltry 32.6 percent in the first half of its first four games, the Orange shot the ball better versus Michigan. SU finished 42.9 percent from the field in the first half. But, again, it was not an ideal performance for Boeheim. He gave credit to a young Michigan team that halted most everyone. Everyone except Joseph, that is.

The young Wolverines — who started three freshmen and a sophomore — confronted SU with a slow game plan on both the offensive and defensive ends. Head coach John Beilein had his green team work the shot clock to within five seconds on every possession. And despite that youth, the Wolverines found seams because of their drive-and-kick attack. It opened up the Orange zone for open kick-out threes and easy Wolverine offensive boards.

For the young Wolverines, freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. — the son of the former NBA All-Star — and sophomore Darius Morris slashed the zone. And Evan Smotrycz and Stu Douglass knocked down five 3s.

At the end of a first half where Joseph led the Orange with 12 points, Michigan didn’t resemble a young team. Ten players in total hauled in rebounds, dominating SU for 13 first half offensive rebounds. They were getting around the zone. But they just couldn’t score enough.

Thirty two percent shooting in the game wasn’t going to cut it on a night where Joseph shot 50 percent from the field and from behind the 3-point line. Joseph’s veteran partner, SU guard Scoop Jardine knew it from the get-go.

‘I saw the shot going in for him early,’ Jardine said. ‘I kicked it to him and he hit a couple of 3s. Once you see that as a player, you are going to be confident throughout the game.’

At the end of the game, hectic final minutes ensued. But like all along, Joseph was there to win the game for the Orange. He was in the zone, as his point total neared 20. In the game’s final four minutes, the mentality of simply reacting out of comfort was shown by the junior.

On a fastbreak Joseph gave SU some of his comfort, as the Orange went up four points. The breathing room came via a step-back move and a silky jumpshot. One Joseph has been working on with Gerry McNamara. One that looked so easy even SU running back Antwon Bailey tweeted about it specifically after the game.

That’s exactly what it was for Joseph all night: easy. He was the latest SU player to step up and lead the offense. He was finally the go-to-guy Boeheim spoke of in the pre-season.

He finally felt the familiarity. Albeit, away from the Dome. He played as if he was home, even if home hadn’t been treating him as such.

With the space, all he could do was react.

‘I was not overthinking, overanalyzing,’ Joseph said. ‘I am just more-so going out there within the team’s structure and concept not forcing anything up there.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on November 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm