Texas Tech tops Syracuse for third place at Legends Classic

Darrion Williams scored 20 points, including five straight in a key stretch of the second half, and Texas Tech held on to defeat Syracuse 79-74 in the third-place game of the Legends Classic in New York on Friday night.

JT Toppin finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks and Chance McMillian nailed three 3-pointers while finishing with 13 points for the Red Raiders (5-1). Elijah Hawkins had 11 points and six assists, and Williams added six rebounds.

J.J. Starling scored 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting and Chris Bell netted 22 points, going 11-for-11 from the free-throw line for the Orange (3-2). Bell missed a late 3-point attempt as Syracuse tried to rally.

Texas Tech, which committed two turnovers in the first two minutes of the game but only one after that, led most of the way, although the teams were within five points of each other for much of the first 28 minutes.

With the Red Raiders ahead by four with 12 minutes to go in the game, Toppin scored on an alley-oop pass from Williams. After an offensive foul by Syracuse, Williams hit a 3-pointer to make it a nine-point lead. The Orange then missed a 3-point try, and Williams drove for a layup to make it 55-44 with 10:44 to play.

Syracuse tried to rally, getting as close as five points on multiple occasions, including with 3:16 to play on Eddie Lampkin Jr.’s jumper to make it 68-63.

However, Bell missed a wide-open 3-point attempt that would have pulled the Orange within two with 1:41 left, and Williams responded with a turnaround jumper on the other end to push the lead to 71-64. Syracuse didn’t threaten again.

In the first half, Starling, who played all 40 minutes of Syracuse’s Thursday loss to Texas, scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including back-to-back layups late in the half as the Orange whittled away a seven-point deficit. His 3-pointer with 49 seconds left tied the game 31-31, which was the halftime score.

Williams, who entered averaging 15.2 per game, led the Red Raiders with seven points at the break.

Texas Tech shot 42.9 percent overall and 8 of 24 (33.3 percent) on 3-point tries. Syracuse, which committed 12 turnovers, shot 41.5 percent from the floor but just 6 of 21 (28.6 percent) from long range.

–Field Level Media