Texas Tech University Athletics
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No. 19 Tech stuns No. 3 Duke with 17-point comeback
December 20, 2025 | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK CITY – Down 17 in the second half, No. 19 Texas Tech stormed back and earned an 82-81 win over No. 3 Duke on Saturday at a sold-out Madison Square Garden. Christian Anderson, who scored 23 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, hit the game-winning free throw with 3.4 seconds remaining after he had made an and-one to put the Red Raiders up 81-77 with 1:14 on the clock.
"It was electric," Anderson said. "We were so competitive and all we wanted to do was win. We had a level of fight to win the game."
The Red Raiders (9-3) started the game on a 9-0 run but would trail 46-36 at halftime. The previously unbeaten Blue Devils (11-1) took a 17-point lead four minutes into the second half and didn't relinquish it until JT Toppin hit a turnaround jumper for a 78-77 advantage with under two minutes to play. Duke stayed in it with a Cayden Boozer 3-pointer following Anderson's and-one to make it 81-80 with a minute remaining and Cameron Boozer tied the game at 81 with 18 seconds on the clock. Anderson was fouled though on Tech's next possession, made the first of two attempts, and saw a last-second shot by Duke miss to secure the win. Toppin recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Â
"Coach kept saying we were going to win the game, even down 17," Toppin added. "We just kept believing and playing together."
Tech, which was 0-3 against ranked opponents, earned the program's 15th victory over a top 5 opponent and its first win over Duke after dropping the first two matchups. The Red Raiders have now also won three straight at Madison Square Garden after recording their largest comeback of the season and biggest since coming back from 16 against Arkansas last season in the Sweet 16.Â
"What a tremendous college basketball atmosphere," Texas Tech coach McCasland said. "It's such a blessing to be part of this. I'm thankful we get to play it. You don't get these games very often and to get a gritty performance from our guys makes it special. Win or lose, I was thrilled with how we competed against a great Duke group. We found a way through a lot of adversity to win. To do it the way we did it gives our team a lot of belief. It was a remarkable fight from our team."
The 17-point comeback was also the largest Duke has relinquished since 2007.It was also the first top 5 win for Tech since knocking off No. 1 Baylor in 2022 and the second in Madison Square Garden with a win over No. 1 Louisville on December 10, 2019.
LeJuan Watts fouled out with 11 minutes remaining but not before contributing 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Already playing without Luke Bamgboye due to injury, the Red Raiders also got six points from Leon Horner, five from Jaylen Petty and saw Nolan Groves step up defensively and produce a plus-13 in his 13 minutes of play. Groves did not score and had only one rebound but was praised in the locker room and during the postgame press conference. "Stay ready," Toppin said of Groves. "You never know when your name is going to get called in moments like this. He works every day and this is the outcome." McCasland added: "It's pretty cool when you have a guy like Nolan Groves who shoot an airball and goes 0-for-2 and plays 13 minutes with one offensive rebound and three fouls but is a plus-13. That shows you the impact you can have in a college basketball game no matter what."
Texas Tech finished the game shooting 7-for-22 on 3-pointers after going just 1-for-9 from deep in the first half. Anderson led the team with five assists, three steals and by going 5-for-9 on 3-pointers with four coming in the second half. His 23 points in the second included him going 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. Among his second-half highlights, Anderson made a four-point play with 12:07 on the clock to cut Duke's lead to 63-55 and made a putback to trim it to 63-61 with 10 minutes to play. Duke responded with a 9-2 run, but Anderson would hit back-to-back 3s to make it a five-point game with five to play and another to make it 76-74 with three to play.
"It's amazing to finally get one to go," Anderson said. "To get in rhythm. When shots are falling it's tough to break. It was super exciting with a lot of emotions."
Cameron Boozer led Duke with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Cayden Boozer had 13 points. The Blue Devils finished the game shooting 10-for-27 on 3-pointers with Dame Sarr knocking down three and Cayden Boozer, Nikolas Khamenia and Patrick Ngongba making two each.
Texas Tech started the game on a 9-0 run but would go into halftime trailing by 10. The Red Raiders were only 1-for-9 on 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes while Duke shot 7-for-14 to take a 46-36 lead into the break. Watts led the Red Raiders with 14 points, including scoring the game's first four points and getting into double figures with a runner just outside the lane to cut a Blue Devil advantage to 34-27. Topping had 10 points and five rebounds at halftime but also had three fouls. Horner came into the game and scored six points in seven minutes while Anderson had four points and Atwell two. The Red Raiders led 13-5 after a pair of Toppin baskets but would see the Blue Devils take their first lead at 19-18 on a 3-pointer by Darren Harris. Cameron Boozer led the Blue Devils with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists at the break while Dame Sarr had nine points after going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. The Red Raiders owned a 22-14 scoring advantage in the pain and were 7-of-10 at the free-throw line while the Blue Devils were 11-of-16 at the free-throw line with Boozer going 6-of-7. Tech started the game 4-for-4 from the field and went into halftime shooting 14-for-29 (48.3%). The halftime deficit was only the third time Tech went into the break trailing.
Texas Tech will take a holiday break before returning to host Winthrop at 1 p.m. on Sunday, December 28 in its final non-conference game of the season at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 6-0 at home this season to push the program to a 45-game home non-conference winning streak. The program set its record with 54 straight non-conference home wins before an overtime loss to Kentucky in 2020 which stopped the streak but has now won 99 of 100 entering the matchup against Winthrop. Tech opens Big 12 play by hosting Oklahoma State on January 3 at the USA.
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