Christian Anderson caught fire, and a shorthanded Texas Tech team stole the show at a Duke-friendly Madison Square Garden Saturday night in the SentinelOne Classic.
Anderson erupted for 23 of his 27 points in the second half, during which the Red Raiders dug themselves out of a 17-point hole despite injuries and foul trouble.
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No. 19 Texas Tech (9-3) snapped a six-game losing streak against AP Top 25 opponents by beating undefeated and No. 3 Duke (11-1).
In the process, the Red Raiders secured their first victory over a top-five team since 2022.
In large part thanks to three quick buckets from forward LeJuan Watts, Texas Tech staked itself to a 9-0 lead. Duke didn’t score until close to two and a half minutes in.
Nikolas Khamenia ended the drought with a 3-pointer. Outside shooting invited the Blue Devils back into the game. While the Red Raiders shot only 1 of 9 from beyond the arc in the opening frame, Duke posted a 50% clip from deep, going 7 of 14 from 3.
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Freshman wing Dame Sarr hit three of them, including one that broke a 21-21 tie. That was the start of the Blue Devils outscoring Texas Tech 25-15 over the final seven minutes and change in the first half.
It didn’t help that Red Raiders leading scorer JT Toppin got in foul trouble. He picked up his third personal with 3:40 before intermission.
A 10-2 run, which included a hook from Watts and a timely corner 3 from Jaylen Petty, cut Texas Tech’s deficit to single digits less than seven minutes into the second half.
But then Watts picked up a costly foul after Duke forward Maliq Brown stole the ball back from him. Brown made up for mishandling an alley-oop pass by converting an and-1.
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With both Watts and Toppin on the bench with four fouls apiece, Texas Tech made another move. This time, Anderson drilled a 3 even though he was fouled by Blue Devils guard Caleb Foster. He netted the ensuing free throw to make it a 63-55 game.
Watts fouled out with 11:33 to go and 20 points to his name, joining guard Leon Horner, who had fouled out moments earlier.
That left the Red Raiders with a lineup of four guards and Toppin. They came into the night without Luke Bamgboye and Marial Akuentok available in the front court.
Nolan Groves, a 6-foot-5 freshman guard, was tasked with covering Duke star forward Cameron Boozer for stretches.
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And still, Texas Tech remained competitive. The Red Raiders collected three offensive rebounds on one possession, the last resulting in an Anderson putback that pulled them within two points of Duke.
After Boozer and the Blue Devils answered, Anderson sparked an 8-0 surge with back-to-back triples, keeping Texas Tech in striking distance.
Although Cayden Boozer landed a floater in transition to put Duke ahead 76-71, Anderson countered again. He pulled a deep 3 over 6-foot-11 Blue Devils big man Patrick Ngongba II. Soon after, he dished a pick-and-roll pass to Toppin, who cashed in for a game-tying basket.
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Toppin then hit a turnaround jumper over Boozer to give Texas Tech its first lead since midway through the first half. Anderson gave the Red Raiders a cushion with a head-turning and-1 that saw him muscle his way inside and get a layup to go after it danced around the rim.
With Texas Tech leading 81-77, the Boozer twins gave Duke a chance on a night when they combined for 36 points. Cayden made a corner 3. Cameron followed that long-range conversion with a trip to the charity stripe. Except he made just 1-of-2 free throws. Duke clocked out only 17 of 29, or 58.6%, from the free throw line.
Anderson drew a foul on Foster with 3.4 ticks left. He made the first free throw and not the second, but that was enough.
Cameron Boozer’s 3-pointer at the buzzer was short.
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Duke entered the matchup with a healthier lineup and a more impressive non-conference résumé. Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils had already taken down four ranked opponents this season.
Texas Tech had played three and lost to each of them. Grant McCasland’s team turned the tide Saturday night in New York with a big upset in The Big Apple.
