Kaleb Joseph has never played fewer minutes for Syracuse.

He has also never missed so many 3-pointers or fueled so many opponent fast breaks. The freshman point guard played just 19 minutes in Syracuse’s (5-3) 69-57 loss to St. John’s (6-1) on Saturday night in the Carrier Dome. Just six of those came after halftime as Joseph had to sit between assistant coach Adrian Autry and head coach Jim Boeheim from the 13:35 mark in the second half until he subbed back in with four seconds left in the game.

“Well, he’s got to learn that he’s a point guard, not a 3-point shooter,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “And he’s got to play defense.”

With 11:53 left in the first half, Joseph bounced a high dribble in the middle of three St. John’s defenders. SJU guard D’Angelo Harrison stole the ball and laid it in at the other end to cut SU’s lead to 15-12.

When Boeheim called timeout with 10:55 left in the half he pointed to the bench, then shouted “What are you doing?” at Joseph as he walked off the court. The head coach puffed his cheeks out in frustration before spending most of the ensuing timeout keeping his eyes locked on Joseph and subbing Ron Patterson into the game for the freshman.

He had missed a pair of 3s and turned the ball over once at that point. Joseph started the second half with a made 3 for his only points on a night would get only get worse for him.

“Kaleb was 1-for-5 and I don’t want him shooting those,” Boeheim said.

After the game Joseph didn’t specify what he and Boeheim talked about.

Said Joseph: “We were just talking … nothing in particular.”

Published on December 6, 2014 at 10:56 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_