Syracuse 68, Virginia Tech 66: Rakeem Christmas and Tyler Roberson combined for 28 points and 26 rebounds as the Orange posted a road win over the Hokies in both teams' ACC opener.

Tyler Cooney scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-21 shooting for Syracuse (10-4, 1-0), which had lost its first two road games this season and nearly fell to Virginia Tech while missing 10 of its final 16 foul shots. Ahmed Hill's 3-pointer drew the Hokies within 68-66 with seven seconds left and, after Ron Patterson missed two free throws, Malik Muller came up short on a 3 from the corner that would have won the game.

Christmas had 17 points and nine rebounds while Roberson notched 11 and 17 off the bench. Justin Bibbs recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds to pace Virginia Tech (8-6, 0-1), which has lost two straight heading into a grueling five-game stretch.

Syracuse led by as many as 22 in the first half and held a 42-23 lead at the break behind 14 points from Cooney and 10 from Christmas. The big run was a 25-5 push that included a three-point play by Christmas and 3-pointers by Cooney and Michael Gbinije, who finished with 10 points.

However, the Orange mustered only five points in the first 8:48 of the second half, as the Hokies eventually inched within 51-49 before Roberson made a jumper and two free throws and Christmas scored from in close to restore a seven-point margin. Virginia Tech went more than five minutes without a field goal before Will Johnston's 3-pointer made it 62-54 with 2:11 left, and Johnston drained another 3 with 45 seconds to go to get the hosts within 65-59.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Syracuse committed two turnovers in the first half and eight for the game. ... Orange freshman F Chris McCullough continued to struggle, scoring two points to finish in single figures for the sixth straight game. Prior to this streak, he had scored in double figures in each of his first eight contests. ... The Hokies' next five games include a three-game road trip with stops at Florida State, Louisville and North Carolina followed by home dates with Notre Dame and Virginia. All of those teams except the Seminoles are currently ranked in the top 20.