NEW YORK (AP) — Every number on the scoreboard and every line on the stat sheet indicated No. 19 Texas Tech was in serious trouble.
LeJuan Watts had already fouled out, JT Toppin was one whistle away and the Red Raiders were trying to climb all the way out of a 17-point hole against undefeated Duke, the third-ranked team in the country.
But those roadblocks hardly fazed Christian Anderson and his determined teammates.
Anderson scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half, including the tiebreaking free throw with 3.4 seconds left, and Texas Tech stormed back for an impressive 82-81 victory Saturday night before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden.
“We were so competitive. In that moment all we wanted to do was win,” said Anderson, who played all 40 minutes. “We had some guys foul out. We had some substitution problems just because we had so many fouls and it was a short bench, but we just had a level of fight that was able to win the game.”
The victory was Texas Tech's first over a top-five foe since defeating No. 1 Baylor 65-62 in January 2022. It also snapped a six-game losing streak versus ranked teams that included close losses this season to Illinois and Arkansas, along with a 30-point defeat against Purdue.
Toppin finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. After a slow start, Anderson poured in 13 points over the final 6 1/2 minutes.
“I started off a little bit sluggish, not fully in tune with the game. But thanks to JT, my other coaches — they kept pushing me to be aggressive if we want to win this game,” Anderson said.
Before he capped the comeback, the Red Raiders (9-3) appeared headed for another frustrating night against a Top 25 opponent.
Texas Tech scored the game's first nine points, yet trailed by 10 at halftime. The Red Raiders faced a 17-point deficit early in the second half, a 12-point deficit with 12:30 left and an 11-point deficit with under 6 1/2 minutes to play.
Watts scored 20 points in 27 minutes but fouled out with 11:33 remaining while trying to defend Duke star Cameron Boozer — after Toppin picked up his fourth foul two minutes earlier. Leon Horner also fouled out late in the second half.
“Just found a way against a lot of adversity to win,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said.
After leading 58-41 with 16 1/2 minutes to go, Duke (11-1) blew a 17-point lead in a loss for the first time since February 2007 against Florida State.
The first sign Texas Tech might rally occurred after the Blue Devils took a 63-51 lead on a three-point play by Maliq Brown with 13:12 left.
The Red Raiders responded with 10 straight points, and Anderson’s basket got them within two about three minutes later.
But the Blue Devils answered and rebuilt their lead to 11 on Boozer's basket with 6:29 to play. Anderson then took over, hitting three 3-pointers in a span of 3:04 to cut the margin to 76-74.
After Anderson’s perimeter display, Toppin stepped up with consecutive jumpers, including a baseline shot over Boozer to give the Red Raiders a 78-77 lead with 1:35 left.
“We kept fighting,” Toppin said. “Coach kept saying we were going to win the game down 17, so just kept believing and kept playing together and that’s the outcome.”
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