The Syracuse Orange (3-1) has little time to dwell on last night’s loss to the Texas Longhorns. The Dutch return to action tonight at 7 on ESPNU to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-1) in the conclusion of the Legends Classic. Texas Tech fell to St. Joseph’s 78-77 last night.

This is what we predict tonight:

Kevin: Texas Tech 84, Syracuse 76

The Dutch showed they won’t roll over, but after letting a game slip through their hands last night, it’s going to be tough to bounce back against this Red Raiders squad. JT Toppin comes into the game averaging 20.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game and I don’t know if this Syracuse team has an answer for him. If Syracuse wants to leave Brooklyn with a split, they need to knock down their free throws and threes and we haven’t seen evidence of that this season.

Sam: Texas Tech 78, Syracuse 63

Texas Tech lost that game because Saint Joseph’s made some insanely difficult shots. The Red Raiders were the better team on the glass, on the inside, forcing more turnovers and narrowly missing the line. They made Rasheer Fleming make a mistake, but it didn’t matter. He hit a pair of early threes, Xzayvier Brown was a threat when he drove to the basket (as expected), and Erik Reynolds couldn’t miss from three. I’d be surprised if there’s another game for a while where Texas Tech’s opponent scores 24 more points on threes than they do.

They can’t afford to miss this opportunity and lose back-to-back games given the high expectations, and they’re also just a better team than Texas. Syracuse played quite well in the second half, but made a plethora of stupid mistakes that held them back.

Dom: Texas Tech 81, Syracuse 69

After falling just short against Texas last night, Syracuse now faces another opponent from the Lone Star State… and this one is pretty tough on paper. Texas Tech is top-30 on both sides of the rankings according to KenPom and brings an arguably better level of physicality, defensive intensity and versatility that the Orange will have to deal with from the tip-off. Syracuse’s own defensive energy increased in the second half of the Texas game, which helped spark the comeback at the end, but unless Syracuse can generate a more efficient offense and not fall into an early deficit right out of the gate, the Red Raiders likely emerge as the victors.

Szuba: Texas Tech 79, Syracuse 69

While the ability to come back and stick with a team like Texas was encouraging from the Orange camp, a matchup against Texas Tech for third place seems like an unfair consolation prize. The Raiders are a physically imposing team and will make scoring difficult for the Dutch team. Syracuse has bounced back well this year, but keeping Toppin off the offensive glass will be a challenge. The three-point line could make the difference here, as Texas Tech had been shooting the ball well from deep until last night. However, the Raiders do not defend the three well. Syracuse needs to shoot the ball well, but I don’t see that happening. Texas Tech with ten.

Maximum: Texas Tech 73, Syracuse 70

Like I said against Texas, we’d see some flashes of greatness from the Dutch, but they wouldn’t execute for the full 40 minutes. The same will be the case today. The Red Raiders rank fourth in effective field goal percentage per KenPom, have a much more active defense and are the more experienced team. TT’s only flaw is its three-point defense, which allows more than 40% of the opponent’s attempts (346th DI). If there’s a chance for a Chris Bell escape shooter, this is it. Even with that, I don’t see SU doing enough in other areas to steal a win tonight.

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Now it’s your turn,