Le Moyne’s Daniel Kaigler blocked Kaleb Joseph’s shot near the rim with three seconds left in the first half. Tanner Hyland corralled the rebound, lofted a three-quarters-court shot that hit the top of the backboard and the buzzer sounded as Joseph headed toward the locker room.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim stood near midcourt, his unwavering glare directed right at the sophomore, before screaming “Hey” to get his attention.

“He made a bad play at the end of the first half,” Boeheim said after the game.

It capped off a 20-minute span that Joseph wanted to put behind him. One-of-6 shooting. No makes on his two 3-pointers. A meager three points for a professed new player whose stroke from distance and ability to finish at the rim was supposedly far superior than a year ago.

But in the second half, the point guard was more selective in his looks from the field, he said. Joseph hit half of his six shots, including back-to-back 3s that topped off a 21-0 SU run, finishing as one of five Orange players in double figures with 11 points. The latter 20 minutes displayed the Joseph that Syracuse knows he can be, and a second exhibition against Division-II national champion Florida Southern on Sunday gives him one last chance to continue rounding into form before the regular season.

“I was settling in the first half, kind of forcing the issue a little bit,” Joseph said. “The second half, it’s just about playing basketball, making the right play and not pressing.”

In last season’s first exhibition against Carleton, Joseph scored a team-high 19 points. He was the starting point guard as a true freshman, running an offense that lost Tyler Ennis early to the NBA.

This year, Joseph’s role is different. He’s not starting. Instead, 6-foot-7 fifth-year senior Michael Gbinije is running the point.

Joseph has refined his game despite not cracking the first five, putting on significant muscle and improving his stroke from deep. He showed a tendency to attack the rim in the first half against the Dolphins and his first two shots in the second half, both makes from behind the arc, helped SU pull away.

“Kaleb’s definitely 16-17 pounds stronger and he’s shooting the ball better this year,” Boeheim said. “Those two things definitely help.”

Syracuse shot 32 3s on Monday, many of which came from penetrate-and-kick situations. Gbinije, who shot 10 from beyond the arc himself, and Joseph, were able to get in the lane, draw defenders in and pass it back outside to an open shooter.

“He got in the paint quite a lot,” Gbinije said. “I think that’s big for him, if he can get in the paint and make it easier to make plays.”

SU plans to be more of a perimeter-oriented offense, and it’ll need Joseph, even if he plays just 16 minutes like Monday, to draw attention to the paint.

It’s an improved branch of his game, but one that’s still a work in progress. If it can be refined along with his outside shooting, Syracuse can inch closer to the new offense it’s already begun to unveil.

Said Joseph: “I think there’s definitely a lot more to come.”

Published on November 4, 2015 at 9:31 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman