NEW YORK — Kris Joseph didn’t call the glass. But in a frantic, messy game, the Syracuse forward was fine with the backboard’s help giving his team the late lead.

Four minutes earlier, Syracuse was down eight and scrambling for points. But as Joseph elevated over Stanford guard Jarrett Mann to sink the bank shot high off the glass, he gave the Orange a one-point lead that would stick for the final 2:53.

‘(If) your friends ask you — definitely,’ Joseph said of whether he called his bank shot. ‘But I didn’t call it.’

Joseph finished with 18 points — 12 in the final 7:09 — and nine rebounds, leading No. 5 Syracuse down the stretch as the Orange (6-0) defeated Stanford (5-1) 69-63 in front of 8,477 in Madison Square Garden on Friday. Syracuse used full-court pressure and Joseph’s clutch scoring down the stretch to win the NIT Season Tip-Off for the first time since 2001 after trailing for most of the game. A 22-8 run to finish the game helped SU avoid an upset in a game that saw two teams combine for 45 turnovers.

Joseph was awarded the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award after averaging 19 points and 9.5 rebounds over SU’s two games in MSG.

‘I credit him for making shots,’ Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. ‘Our defense was good on several of those situations. Even the ones off the turnovers. He finished plays around the basket through contact. About as good as any young man I’ve seen.’

Joseph’s hot streak came right as Stanford began to create some separation on the scoreboard. Up 50-45, Stanford’s Josh Owens missed a short jumper, but Anthony Brown came flying in for the one-handed putback slam. After Joseph matched the basket with a jumper from the top of the key, Stanford guard Aaron Bright got open for a 3 from the right wing.

The shot from Bright, who made 3-of-5 from long distance on the game, gave Stanford its largest lead of the game at 55-47.

Neither team led by more than four in the first half. With 6:47 to play, an upset was brewing.

‘We played three or four minutes of good full-court pressure and got back in the game,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘But they really outplayed us the whole game.’

After Joseph scored to pull SU within six, the Orange went to the press. Dawkins called a timeout and brought his Cardinal team to the sideline to game plan against it.

Then Joseph came up with a steal on the ensuing inbounds play. He absorbed some contact inside and hit another basket. Suddenly, the deficit was back to four.

‘Those kids, they’ve been in those situations before,’ Dawkins said of Syracuse. ‘They’ve learned from them, and they’ve grown and gotten better in late-game situations. We’re still a developing team.’

The Orange buckled down for those final minutes after playing fundamentally unsound basketball for most of the game. Syracuse trailed 25-24 at halftime, and much of the reason was SU’s transgressions on offense.

But although both Syracuse (21 turnovers) and Stanford (24) struggled to hold onto the ball all game, it was the Cardinal who couldn’t keep control down the stretch.

‘Down the stretch our press definitely helped us get a few steals,’ Joseph said. ‘Making the right rotations while we were in our zone, you know it helps us tremendously.’

A Brandon Triche layup brought SU within 60-56, and the Orange returned to full-court pressure. Stanford inbounded the ball to Owens, but as he tried heaving a pass up the sideline, Triche tipped it and stole it.

Triche’s pass into the paint bounced off Stanford guard Chasson Randle, off Fab Melo and, finally, C.J. Fair collected it and made a layup while getting bodied by Dwight Powell to go to the line.

Fair’s free throw brought SU within one at 60-59, helping set up Joseph’s big-time bank shot.

‘We practice (the full-court press) every day, and we’re hopeful that it will help us in some situations,’ Boeheim said. ‘That was the difference in the game. Without the pressure, we wouldn’t have won.’

After Joseph’s shot, the Orange stomped on the Cardinal. Following a miss from Bright, Dion Waiters drove toward the hoop and made a wild layup as he fell into the basket’s stanchion while getting fouled. After making the free throw, Syracuse was up four.

Down 66-63 with 40.3 seconds to go, Stanford took its final timeout. But Joseph came up huge again, stealing the ball from John Gage. He covered it up with both arms, taking a foul from Bright.

He made the second of two free throws to give SU a two-possession lead with 21 seconds to go. And he left quite an impression on the opposing coach.

‘First of all, a senior, great leader, terrific player for Syracuse,’ Dawkins said. ‘And he stepped up and made the big plays.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on November 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr