There was no doubt. Kris Joseph rose up in rhythm, launching a pure shot to close the scoring on another chapter of Syracuse versus Georgetown.

The senior’s mechanics behaved flawlessly as his 3-pointer soared from the left corner and plummeted through the hoop. Joseph turned around to watch the Carrier Dome react to the Orange’s newfound 3-point lead with 29 seconds to go in overtime.

‘I felt it going in,’ Joseph said. ‘I was ready for it and knocked it down.’

Joseph’s sixth 3-pointer of the night gave SU the lead for good. At the other end, Syracuse forced a Georgetown turnover with five seconds left, effectively ending the game. GU had one more opportunity after Dion Waiters missed two free throws with two seconds to go, but Hollis Thompson’s three-quarter-court heave fell way short.

No. 2 Syracuse (24-1, 11-1 Big East) gave a less-than-stellar performance, but the Orange did just enough to edge No. 12 Georgetown (18-5, 8-4 Big East) 64-61 in overtime in front of a raucous 27,820 in the Carrier Dome on Wednesday. Joseph shone bright, scoring a career-high 29 points and hitting 6-of-11 3s while playing all 45 minutes of the game. And in Fab Melo’s first game in the Carrier Dome since Jan. 16, he dominated inside, posting a stat line of 11 points, seven rebounds and six blocks.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim passed Dean Smith for third all-time among Division-I head coaches with his 880th win. He also became the winningest coach at one Division-I school ever.

But on a night when Georgetown outrebounded Syracuse 52-35, Syracuse needed every big play that Joseph and Melo made to leave overtime unscathed. Boeheim wasn’t pleased afterward.

‘Right now, I don’t think we’re a good basketball team because we can’t rebound,’ he said. ‘… For a long time this year we were within a couple, two or three rebounds, I don’t think I was concerned about rebounding that much. But when it gets 10, 15, 20, you better be concerned.’

Despite the poor performance all game on the boards, and shooting 29 percent in the first half, the Orange stayed close as neither team led by more than six.

Joseph hit enough shots to keep SU afloat. His 3-of-10 line in the first half looks deficient, but he scored 12 points to carry the offensive load for the Orange, who trailed 31-27 at halftime. His two first-half 3s came at times when Syracuse was trailing by five and had been scoreless for more than two minutes before the shot.

‘He was great,’ Melo said. ‘He finished when he had to finish.’

Joseph entered Wednesday in a funk. He was 3-of-27 from 3 in Syracuse’s last seven games. The senior said he feels like he was in rhythm the last couple of games, but the shots didn’t fall.

With the Orange trailing 44-43 about midway through the second half, Joseph caught a pass near the top of the key in rhythm from Scoop Jardine. He knocked it down over Georgetown guard Jabril Trawick, pushing the Orange out in front.

He drilled his next 3 as well, giving SU its largest lead of the game at 54-48 with 4:37 to go.

‘Staff and teammates just kept telling me to shoot the ball and they were going to fall,’ Joseph said. ‘And tonight’s the night.’

Georgetown kept crawling back, though. Jason Clark answered Joseph’s triple with a 3 of his own. And after Joseph made one of two free throws with 3:55 to play, Syracuse didn’t score again in regulation.

Greg Whittington made one of two free throws with a minute left in the second half to knot the game at 55. But both teams missed opportunities to take the lead. For Georgetown, center Henry Sims thought he had a decent look when he turned and shot in the paint, but Melo was there for a huge block.

‘He’s got to save us with some blocks in there, and he did a couple times tonight,’ Boeheim said.

For Syracuse, Jardine drove to the hoop, looking for a lane to get to the rim. Waiters received the pass, but his 3-pointer with two seconds left wasn’t a great look.

The overtime period played out just like regulation —back and forth, little separation. Both teams struggles in some areas but played well enough in others to keep pace.

But with 29 seconds left, Syracuse gained just enough of an advantage.

Jardine had the ball on the right wing. He dribbled around a pick set by Melo and saw Joseph open. He fed Joseph the pass —and there was no indecision.

Joseph was wide open to give Syracuse the lead and the win.

‘For some reason they left me open,’ Joseph said. ‘Maybe they didn’t see the last four or five go in, and I was open for the shot, and I knocked it down.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on February 8, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr