Syracuse’s Donte Greene, left, works against Randall Hanke of the Friars during the first half of yesterday’s game.

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AP / Kevin Rivoli

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jim Boeheim’s latest Syracuse University basketball team may be on personnel life-support, but the Orange are still finding ways to win Big East games.

The latest example came at the expense of the Providence College Friars yesterday when the Orange’s trademark zone defense crippled PC’s offense for much of the game and paved the way for a 71-64 victory in front of 23,309 fans at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse, 14-7 overall and 4-4 in conference play, beat the Friars with only seven scholarship players suited up. Six actually got into the game, but those half-dozen are still pretty good. Donte Greene continued his superb freshman season by pouring in 24 points, including five 3-pointers. Fellow frosh Jonny Flynn added 12 points and 5 assists, while Paul Harris chipped in 14 points. Center Arinze Onuaku grabbed 14 rebounds in leading a slaughter of the Friars off the boards.

Boeheim has lost two starters to season-ending knee injuries, and yesterday Antonio “Scoop” Jardine was suspended indefinitely due to an unspecified violation of university policy. Boeheim says his team can’t run like it wants to, in order to conserve energy. The team’s four key starters each played 37 or more minutes.

“We’ve never been close to this. It’s difficult. We’re as short-handed as you’d ever want to be,” Boeheim said. “You can play six or seven guys, but it’s tough. We’re going to keep fighting through it.”

After major defensive problems early in the year, Syracuse’s zone is perking up. It certainly dominated the Friars. PC struggled through one of its worst halves of the season as it managed only 21 points on 29-percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. The Friars trailed by nine at the half and fell behind by as many as 12 points early in the second half before the offense was finally jolted into action. The 3-point shooting of Dwain Williams (21 points) and Jeff Xavier (16) did the trick, and PC took a two-point lead with 7:40 left.

The score was 56-56 at the four-minute mark, but Syracuse scored the next nine points to lock up the win.

PC fell to 12-7 overall and 3-4 in the Big East. The promise of a three-game winning streak has been reversed after two straight losses. Up next is a trip to Notre Dame, where the Fighting Irish hold a 31-game home winning streak.

“We have no choice but to bounce back and go get Notre Dame,” said senior Chuck Burch. “They’re one of the best teams at home, but it’s no time to hang our heads.”

The Friars certainly had a chance to grab a big road win. The team’s defense held the Orangemen to 39 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers, but putting points on the board against Syracuse’s zone was a major problem.

The Friars were downright bad in the opening half as the lack of an inside game, poor ball movement and too many misses on open shots added up to 29 percent shooting. PC was 1-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first half.

“In the first half we played very tentative on offense. We were kind of leaning back. I just said to take the ball to them. If they block the shot, fine, but we were kind of holding back,” said PC coach Tim Welsh. “We work against the zone all the time because we play it, but sometimes it’s a shock at first when you see their length. It cuts down the passing angles.”

When the Friars did work the ball inside, they had major issues dealing with Syarcuse’s size. Only Jonathan Kale (16 points) had much success.

“They’re long and they get their hands up and do a solid job denying passes,” said Geoff McDermott, who was held scoreless for the first time in his career.

The offensive issues lasted until the 10-minute mark. At that point Syracuse led, 45-36. PC then started hitting from outside as Williams banged home two threes and Xavier added one in a 13-2 run that gave PC a 49-47 lead. A Xavier trey kept it tied at 56-56 with 4:22 left, but Kale missed an open baseline jumper and Greene came out of a timeout and nailed his fifth 3-pointer.

“That was a set play. We really needed a lift, and that was big for us,” said Greene.

The shot sparked a 9-0 Syracuse run as PC’s offense sputtered with a missed three by Williams, two McDermott misses from the free-throw line and a missed three by Brian McKenzie. The Orange answered each PC miss with two free throws and took a 65-56 lead. Syracuse forced the ball inside very well and outscored PC from the free-throw line, 25-9, and also won the rebound battle, 47-32.

“We have good offensive players. They just have to play better, that’s all,” said Welsh. “They’ve proven they can score and make plays, but it just took us too long to get going against their zone.”

kmcnamar@projo.com