SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- A 21-point victory. A team record-tying 15 blocked shots. Another opponent under 40 percent shooting.

It was an impressive outing for Syracuse (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP), which used an 18-1 to overpower Hartford 90-69 on Wednesday night. But not enough to please coach Jim Boeheim.

"Defensively, we still made a lot of errors that we are not going to be able to make in Big East play," Boeheim said after watching the Orangemen improve to 9-0.

"Some of our younger players have to do better staying with their man. We still get lost a little bit and leave guys open for wide-open 3s."

It's tough to play stalwart defense when your team is scoring almost at will, said Preston Schumpert, who had 12 points.

"We were trying too much to break the game open," Schumpert said. "Early on we were trying to get out and get it going quick. It showed. We had people getting beat on dribble penetration."

But the Orangemen put the clamps on just enough.

After pulling to 34-26, Hartford (2-6) was scoreless the final four minutes of the first half and did not get its first field goal in the second half until Mantas Storpirstis' layup at the 15:45 mark.

Syracuse scored the final six points of the first half, and opened the second with a 12-1 spurt to take a 55-29 lead. Damone Brown had seven of his team-high 15 points during the run.

The outmanned Hawks, playing their first game since a 38-point loss at Miami on Dec. 11, struggled everywhere on the court against the more talented Orangemen. Hartford had 19 turnovers and shot just 36 percent (25-of-69). Syracuse has held eight of its nine opponents below the 40 percent mark.

In addition to its 15 blocked shots, Syracuse had 14 steals in its final tuneup before starting Big East Conference play Wednesday at home against Rutgers. The 15 blocked shots tied a record set against Seton Hall in 1981 and matched against Texas Southern in 1997.

Etan Thomas added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks for Syracuse. Pierre Johnson led the Hawks with 15.

The Orangemen led 43-28 at halftime and pushed their advantage to 61-31 before Boeheim sat his starters.