Ten minutes had gone by and Loyola had yet to score a point.

Then B.J. Johnson, making his first career start in place of the injured Tyler Roberson, threw away an in-bounds pass and Greyhound guard Eric Laster charged down the lane to earn two free throws.

“B.J.!” SU head coach Jim Boeheim yelled, with his defense controlling every Loyola possession and the scoreboard fully tilted in the Orange’s favor.

The head coach didn’t get comfortable because his team gave him no reason to — letting the Greyhounds hang around in a game that could have been decided by halftime. But Syracuse (4-1) managed to pull away in the second half — thanks to better guard play and a continuation of its first-half defense — for an uninspiring 70-37 win over Loyola (2-3) in front of 17,691 fans in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night.

“Our energy was higher, we just came more ready to play in the second half,” SU guard Trevor Cooney said. “Our defense was good in the first half but wasn’t as good as it could be. And then in the second half it was that and our offense was much better in the second half.”

Despite holding the Greyhounds scoreless for the first 10:04 and to four makes on 26 shots in the first half, SU couldn’t find the offensive touch to bury Loyola early on. The Orange shot 11-of-26 in the opening frame, and missed all seven of its 3-point attempts.

Syracuse was also out-rebounded, 21-20, by Loyola in the first half, which didn’t amount to offense for the Greyhounds but did keep them within striking distance.

“We can’t be out there lackadaisical,” SU point guard Kaleb Joseph said.

But a more efficient offense came out of the locker room and Loyola never found an offensive rhythm of its own. Joseph opened the second half with a midrange jumper, which kickstarted a 14-1 run.

The Orange worked the ball to Rakeem Christmas in the half-court offense, and the senior forward bullied the Loyola big men before finishing with 18 points and six blocks on the other end. Syracuse also did a better job on the defensive glass, turning long rebounds into fast-break points at the rim while the Greyhounds’ shooting struggles persisted. Loyola finished the game shooting a 19.2 percent clip, 10 makes in 52 tries.

And with the Orange leading 45-26 with less than 11 minutes to play, Cooney, who finished with 13 points, went on a personal 8-0 run to permanently separate the two sides.

He hit two free throws after drawing a foul on a fast break, then hit a 3 — SU’s first after starting 0-for-8 — before finishing a three-point play that bumped Syracuse’s lead to 27.

“Kaleb was able to get a couple of easy shots and he’s got to just play like that, knock them down, knock those shots down and loosen up a little bit,” Boeheim said. “Trevor got to the basket better and that was a good thing.”

Boeheim spent the first 20 minutes of the game yelling at ill-advised fouls and cycling eight players on and off the court, looking for a lineup that could turn defense into offense and stomp on the inferior Greyhounds.

That didn’t come until the second half, as Loyola failed to score or stop the Orange.

It was a team Syracuse should have beaten in convincing fashion, but the squad that lost to California and dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2009 was on display for most of the night.

The Greyhounds were just a far less talented opponent, which left Boeheim with only so much to scratch his head about after the pedestrian win.

“We got a lot of things to work on,” Boeheim said. “ … Hopefully we’ll eventually get there. This team is — we need time.”

Published on November 25, 2014 at 9:02 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse