McCullough, Christmas help No. 23 Syracuse hold off Iowa 66-63 at 2K Classic

Syracuse's Chris McCullough (5) drives past Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Madison Square Garden, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (The Associated Press)

Syracuse's Rakeem Christmas (25) dunks the ball in front of Iowa's Aaron White (30) and Adam Woodbury (34) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Madison Square Garden, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (The Associated Press)

Chris McCullough had 20 points, nine rebounds and a key steal with 8.4 seconds left, and No. 23 Syracuse held off Iowa 66-63 on Friday night in the 2K Classic consolation game.

Rakeem Christmas bounced back from his foul-plagued performance Thursday with 18 points for the Orange (3-1), who led by 15 in the second half but needed some key plays from McCullough, a freshman from the Bronx who had 13 after halftime.

Jarrod Uthoff scored 20 points and Aaron White added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Iowa (2-2).

Christmas, Syracuse's leading scorer, was limited to eight points before fouling out in the Orange's 73-59 loss to California on Thursday.