On Saturday, Syracuse Orange junior forward and leading scorer Kris Joseph fell backward after a shot and banged his head on the hard court of the Carrier Dome. Joseph left the game and never returned. Luckily, the Orange (18-0, 5-0 Big East) used a 16-0 run to start the second half to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats, 67-52.
After the game, head coach Jim Boeheim was unsure if Joseph would be available for Monday night’s game against Top-5 ranked the Pittsburgh Panthers (7:30 p.m. on ESPN). On Sunday, Joseph was ruled out according to the SUAthletics.com game notes.
“The Orange head into the league tussle without top scorer Kris Joseph (14.6 ppg),’ read the game notes. “(Joseph) suffered a head injury in Saturday’s win against Cincinnati.”
This from USA Today's Jack Carey:
"Syracuse forward Kris Joseph, the leading scorer for the fourth-ranked Orange, is not traveling to Pittsburgh today for Monday night's game with the No. 5 Panthers, Syracuse spokesman Pete Moore said Sunday afternoon."
Currently, the Orange are one of four teams in the nation that remain with an unblemished record. Also, SU’s 18-0 start is the second-best in program history. The Orange just need one more win to tie the school record of the 1999-’00 team that won 19 straight games to begin the season. This task will be very hard to accomplish without the squads most versatile player.
On Monday, SB Nation New York will have a full update on Joseph’s status and preview the Top-5 match up between Syracuse at Pittsburgh.