Syracuse Remains Perfect

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Although Syracuse had trailed for nearly 34 minutes, the Orangemen weren’t worried. They had been there before.

That experience made a difference as No. 19 Syracuse rallied from behind to beat No. 25 Texas Christian 82-78 in a semifinal round game of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic Thursday night at San Juan, Puerto Rico. The win improved the Orangemen to 12-0.

“Six of our first 11 games went down to the end and could’ve gone either way,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “TCU’s been blowing everybody out, so down the stretch that mattered. We got every shot we wanted and they took some bad ones.”

Syracuse senior Todd Burgan enjoyed a superb second half, scoring 17 of his 23 points in the game’s final 13:10 as the Orangemen overcame a six-point deficit.

Syracuse plays Michigan in the tournament championship game tonight. TCU fell to 10-2.

Murray State 94, (12) Arkansas 83

One day after its startling loss to American-Puerto Rico, the Razorbacks were beaten by the Racers, with De’Teri Mayes of the Racers scoring 42 points.

Arkansas (8-2) entered the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic unbeaten. The 64-59 defeat to Division II American-Puerto Rico on Wednesday was the biggest upset in college basketball this season.

Murray State (10-1) bounced back strongly after losing for the first time this season - a 76-53 defeat to Michigan on Wednesday.

Mayes made 13 of 18 shots, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. He also converted 11 of 13 free throws while grabbing 10 rebounds.