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Brooklyn, N.Y. ― For the second night in a row, the Syracuse Orange showed more fight and intensity than it had in winning its first three games of the season, but it came up short here in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.
After hanging with Texas Tech for the game’s first 35 minutes, Syracuse faltered down the stretch for a 79-74 loss to the Red Raiders on Friday night. The Orange’s loss came 24 hours after a 70-66 loss to Texas, which saw SU rally from a 16-point deficit to take a lead late in the game only to come up short.
The 0-2 trip to New York offered some encouraging signs after Syracuse’s lackluster performances in narrow wins over Le Moyne, Colgate and Youngstown State to start the year, but the Orange still left the Big Apple with a 3-2 record and a lot of work to do.
Texas Tech (5-1) also entered Friday’s game on the heels of its first loss of the year. The Red Raiders were upset 78-77 by St. Joseph’s in Thursday’s opening round of the Legends Classic.
Texas Tech hit back-to-back 3-pointers to break a tie and take a 44-38 lead early in the second half. From that point on, Syracuse found itself fighting to get back to even with the Red Raiders.
From that point on, everything seemed to be an uphill battle for the Orange.
Texas Tech would open up a 12-point lead with just under 9 minutes remaining, but Syracuse had one more rally left in its tank.
The Orange attacked the basket and was rewarded with several trips to the free-throw line. After going 9-for-18 from the line against Texas, Syracuse was on target Friday, hitting 24 of its 28 free throws.
Elijah Moore got Syracuse within five points at 64-59 with a drive to the bucket. JJ Starling’s two free throws again made it a five-point game with 4:50 remaining. Then Starling found Eddie Lampkin on a driving dish to trim the margin to 68-63.
Syracuse finally got a stop when Chris Bell blocked Texas Tech’s Kevin Overton from behind. Bell had a chance to cut the margin to two points at the other end but missed an open 3-pointer with a minute and a half left.
With that, Syracuse’s chances for a comeback win dissipated, just as they had in the final minutes of Thursday’s loss to Texas.
A valiant effort. Unrewarded.
Starling paced the Syracuse offense with 27 points. Bell bounced back from a rough game against Texas with 22 points, including an 11-for-11 night at the foul line. No other Syracuse player was in double-figures. Syracuse’s three other starters, Eddie Lampkin, Donnie Freeman and Jaquan Carlos, combined for just 13 points.
Texas Tech Darrion Williams led the Red Raiders with 20 points. JT Toppin, who had 22 points and 18 rebounds in a loss to St. Joseph’s on Thursday, managed 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting.
Syracuse closed the first half with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 31 heading into halftime. Starling scored 14 points in the opening 20 minutes, including a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in the half that knotted up the score.
Syracuse played with the same defensive intensity that had helped the Orange erased a 16-point deficit against Texas the previous night. The Orange held Texas Tech, which came into Friday’s game averaging 90 points per game, to just 31 first-half points on 13-for-32 (40%) field-goal shooting.
Toppin was limited to just four points in the first half on Friday. Lampkin drew the assignment of defending Toppin and did an admirable job of just staying between the Raiders’ 6-9 forward and the basket. Toppin made just two of his eight field-goal attempts in the half.
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