Kaleb Joseph feels better. He’s found his range and found ways to get to it.

But he’s also the point guard for a Syracuse (16-9, 7-5 Atlantic Coast) team that just lost a 80-72 game to No. 4 Duke (22-3, 9-3) despite having a halftime lead. He was pulled in the first half after some late closeouts defensively and briefly switched off offense and defense with Ron Patterson late in the game. While Michael Gbinije brought the ball up on key possessions, Joseph played 29 minutes in which he scored four points, had three assists, two turnovers and two rebounds.

The performance follows nine-point and 14-point showings at Pitt and Boston College, respectively.

“It feels good but it never feels good when you lose,” Joseph said of his offensive contributions.

He also played atop a zone that limited Duke’s dribble penetration, but still allowed the Blue Devils to get to the center of the floor too easily.

From there, Jahlil Okafor owned his matchup with Rakeem Christmas and dropped 23 points on the Orange. The Blue Devils scored 40 points in the paint.

But it was their perimeter shooting that earned him a spot next to SU head coach Jim Boeheim on the bench. With 3:07 left in the first half, Quinn Cook hit an open 3 with Joseph running out to him in the left corner. When Justise Winslow hit another 3 over Joseph with 2:10 left in the half, Boeheim called timeout and ran out to within 15 feet of the basket to yell at his point guard.

Regardless, Joseph stayed in the game until he picked up a foul with 1:47 to play before the break.

When Boeheim alternated Joseph and Patterson on offense and defense respectively from 1:45 to :49 left in the game, he said it was to set up the Orange’s press — not because of any defensive errors by Joseph in the first half.

Said Boeheim: “Kaleb made some good plays, he made some freshman mistakes that we can’t afford.”

Published on February 14, 2015 at 11:32 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_