Walk-ons entered the game when B.J. Johnson left it Friday night.

His outbursts of scoring and consistent rebounding had ensured that Syracuse’s blowout waiting to happen actually happened. The sophomore forward, the third or fourth option off the bench for the No. 23 Orange (1-0) in preseason, was the second player Jim Boeheim subbed into SU’s season-opening 89-42 win against Kennesaw State in the Carrier Dome while Michael Gbinije sat on the sideline.

And once Johnson took the floor, he made it especially hard for Boeheim to take him off.

“After you knock down a few shots, the basket looks like a big ocean,” Johnson said, “so I think after a hit a couple I felt good and I felt like every one after that was going in.”

Almost all of them did. The only ones that weren’t were 3s as Johnson shot 7-of-11 from the field — 64 percent — 2-of-6 from 3-point range and tallied a career-high 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes.

Johnson’s first costly error of the game came just less than 10 minutes after he took the floor with 14:30 left in the first half. With about 4:45 to play before halftime, he snared a rebound from KSU’s Orlando Coleman and heaved an outlet pass toward Trevor Cooney that found the Owls’ bench.

But Boeheim didn’t replace him for another 27 seconds of game time. Johnson had already contributed eight points, five rebounds and an assist.

“He just gave me that glare like, ‘You know you just messed up,’” Johnson said, “but Coach is pretty good with letting you get away with a mistake as long as you make it up on the defensive end.”

The game that Johnson entered in the first half was moving quickly, but hardly being seized by the Orange. SU’s three assistant coaches alternated seats with the three healthy and available scholarship players at the front end of the Orange’s bench.

His defensive rebounds choked off the prospect of any second chances for Kennesaw State. His offensive ones cleaned up the finishing mistakes of Chris McCullough and Tyler Roberson.

“I wouldn’t say that that’s a strength of his, but he did a good job,” Boeheim said of Johnson’s rebounding.

The sophomore’s 3 from the right corner with 7:44 left in the game gave SU a 68-33 lead, putting an unnecessary nail in KSU’s coffin. It also gave him his 16th point of the game, surpassing the 14 total he scored last season.

“Everybody knows B.J.’s one of the best shooters on the team,” point guard Kaleb Joseph said.

In a game in which Syracuse was looking for someone to replace Gbinije’s minutes and scoring, the Orange got points, control and a flourish from Johnson.

Another 3 from the right corner with 5:33 left — this one over the 6-foot-10 Willy Kouassi — gave SU its 75th point and ensured a free taco from Taco Bell for anyone with a ticket to the game.

Before jogging off to a standing ovation in a game he had helped seal, he added an assist and a rebound in the next minute of play.

“I think that’s just one of the secret aspects of my game,” Johnson said. “I can get a rebound and then run the floor, then try to cash in on easy opportunities.”

But 40 minutes into Syracuse’s season, it’s no longer a secret.

Said Johnson, with a smile: “Not anymore.”

Published on November 14, 2014 at 11:28 pm

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_