CINCINNATI – All season, Kris Joseph has been asking Jim Boeheim for permission to fire off some 3-pointers. And Boeheim must constantly reaffirm Joseph of his role.

Certain players must abide by certain rules. And for 34 years, Boeheim has been the judge, jury and executioner in these parts. Only in this case, Joseph might be right.

Might be.

‘He has been telling me all year he can make that shot, so we may have to run a play or something for him down the road,’ Boeheim said. ‘I don’t really think so, but maybe. His two 3’s broke the game wide open.’

After Cincinnati’s fast start, Sunday’s game muddied into a back-and-forth Big East battle. As Syracuse slowly started to break away, Joseph’s two 3-pointers were the difference in its 71-54 win. The first flipped Cincinnati’s last lead of the game with 9:37 left. The second gave Syracuse its then-largest lead of the game with 4:42 to go.

Joseph had a feeling he’d get this opportunity. Before the game, assistant coach Rob Murphy told Joseph there was a good chance Syracuse would need him to hoist some 3’s.

‘And that’s what I did,’ Joseph said. ‘I shot the ball with confidence.’

For Joseph, these big shots from downtown are becoming a trend. In Syracuse’s last road game, he nailed a key shot from deep. Joseph is becoming more than the punctuation mark on fast breaks. Shooting 30 3-pointers from five different spots over and over again at practice has helped broaden his game. And tire him out.

‘You can imagine how tired my arms get after that,’ Joseph said.

Rise in rankings coming?

With No. 2 Villanova falling to No. 7 Georgetown over the weekend, Syracuse should jump to No. 2 in the national rankings this week.

On Saturday, the Wildcats were overwhelmed by a more physical Hoyas team that got to the free-throw line all game. Georgetown shot 39-of-50 from the stripe as Austin Freeman scored 25 points and dished out three assists. The loss shakes up the top of the Big East.

But Boeheim knows how quickly things can change. He isn’t looking ahead. After Sunday’s win, he lauded the conference’s strength. Top to bottom, there are no gimmes, he said.

‘I’ve told this team several times, ‘You can get hit in the face anytime,” Boeheim said. ‘We started out really good, Pittsburgh knocked us right in the face and we responded well to that.’

Rautins reiterated again what has made this team different than ones past. SU had four players score in double figures, the kind of balance it’ll need to maintain its perch atop the Big East.

‘Last year we had a great team, a lot of great individual players,’ Rautins said. ‘This team is just that – a team. We have great chemistry regardless of who is in the game.’

This and That

NBA legend Oscar Robertson was sitting courtside by the Cincinnati bench. Robertson, who attended Cincinnati, is the only NBA player ever to average a triple-double over an entire season. … The Bearcats shot only 39 percent from the field in the second half, as SU shot 60 percent. … Neither team shot well from the free-throw line, combining to go 24-of-44. … There were 11 lead changes in Syracuse’s win Sunday, and the game was tied six times.

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on February 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm