Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse Basketball takes on Texas Tech on Friday night at Barclays Center.
The Orange Raiders and Red Raiders will face off in a repechage game in the Legends Classic, scheduled for tip-up at 7 p.m. and broadcast on ESPNU.
This will be the first match between the two teams.
Texas Tech (4-1), like Syracuse, erased a 16-point deficit before falling short and losing to St. Joseph’s University.
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Eric Reynolds II sank six 3-pointers and scored 26 points Thursday night in the UKG Legends Classic, but Justice Ajogbolu made a free throw with 13.7 seconds left and St. They defeated Texas Tech 78-77.
The Hawks (4-1) will play Texas, which defeated Syracuse 70-66, in Friday’s championship game.
Texas Tech entered Thursday night’s game having shot 45.1% from 3-point range on this young season.
However, the Red Raiders struggled from long range against the Hawks, shooting just 4-of-20 from three.
Reynolds made 6 of 11 from the arc. Xzayvier Brown scored 20 points on just 3-of-10 shooting, but made all 13 of his free throws. LaCille Fleming added 14 points before fouling out with four minutes left. The Hawks made 12 of 22 3-point attempts.
JT Toppin had 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for Texas Tech, 12 of which went on the offensive glass. Darrion Williams scored 18 points and Chance McMillian scored 17 points for the Red Raiders, who outscored St. Joseph’s University 44-28, but made just 4-of-20 3-pointers.
There were five lead changes and five ties in the final seven minutes, leaving Ajobolu on the line with the score tied. Ajogbolu, who shot less than 50% from free throws this season, missed his first shot but made his second after a timeout. Williams missed a jumper in the paint and the game ended.
Texas Tech was trailing by 10 points at halftime, but an early 8-0 outburst led to four points from Toppin, closing the gap to three points and continuing to chase the Hawks. McMillian’s 3-point play with less than seven minutes remaining gave the Raiders their first lead since the game’s opening basket.
The Hawks held a 16-point lead, but the Red Raiders scored six straight points in the final two minutes to take a 45-35 lead at the end of the first half.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report
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