Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
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No. 6 Houston
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No. 12 Texas Tech knocks off No. 6 Houston
January 24, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – No. 12 Texas Tech earned its second top 10 win of the season and snapped No. 6 Houston's 16-game road winning streak with a 90-86 victory on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena. JT Toppin recorded his 13th double-double of the season after going for 31 points and 12 rebounds while Jaylen Petty and Donovan Atwell combined for nine 3-pointers and each finished with 18 points to help the Red Raiders (16-4, 6-1 Big 12) even the season series with the Cougars (17-2, 5-1 Big 12).
"What I was most thrilled about is that we didn't back down," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "It looked like they knocked us off center when they got a lead in the second half and we looked tired. It looked like we were trying to figure out what was left in our tank to finish this one. But no, there was a lot of resilience in our timeouts. It was awesome."
Tech has now won five in a row, improved to 11-0 at home and also ended Houston's 11-game winning streak. The five-game streak by the Red Raiders started after falling 69-65 at Houston on January 6 and came by withstanding a second-half surge by the Cougars that saw a 55-49 halftime lead turn into a 71-67 deficit midway through the second half. A pair of Toppin free throws would tie it at 71 in a game that saw eight lead changes and eight ties and Atwell's fourth 3-pointer put the Red Raiders up 78-77 with six minutes to play. Tech would not trail the rest of the way and made it a four-point win with Atwell sealing it with two free throws with only 13 seconds remaining. The Red Raiders finished the game with a 44-28 rebounding advantage, including an 21-11 margin on the offensive end. Tech also shot 12-for-29 on 3-pointers and was 24-of-30 from the free-throw line. Houston finished 11-of-28 on 3-pointers and was 17-of-21 at the line.
Toppin, who now has five games this season and eight in his career with a 30-plus point double-double, grabbed six offensive rebounds in the game along with shooting 12-for-24 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line. He now leads the Big 12 with 13 double-doubles this season and has 43 in his career. For the season, Toppin is now averaging 22.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
"In a game like this with as physical as they are, you have to have the same mindset of being tough," Toppin said.
Atwell was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers in the win over Houston to finish with 18 points after going 7-for-10 on Tuesday night in the win at Baylor. Petty, who scored 20 points in the first matchup against Houston, went for his 18 points on Saturday after shooting 4-for-6 on 3-pointers and going 4-of-4 at the free-throw line along with adding eight rebounds. Christian Anderson led the Red Raiders with nine assists and finished with 12 points while Josiah Moseley made his season debut and contributed six points and six rebounds in 10 minutes of playing time. LeJuan Watts added five rebounds and three points and Tyeree Bryan had two rebounds to add to Tech's total of 44.
Tech now has two top 10 wins this season after also earning an 82-81 win over then-No. 3 Duke at Madison Square Garden and has 31 wins over top 10 opponents in program history. The win over Houston evens the season series and trims into UH's overall lead of 33-29 all-time. It's the second straight season with Tech and Houston splitting the regular-season series with the home team winning each time this season after the road team won both games last season.
Texas Tech took a 55-49 lead into halftime after going 10-for-19 on 3-pointers. Down seven midway through the first half, the Red Raiders tied the game after Petty had a five-point swing by hitting two free throws on a flagrant foul call and then knocked down a 3-pointer. Toppin led the Red Raiders with 17 points and seven rebounds at the break while Petty had 14 points after going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. Anderson had seven assists and seven points at halftime while Atwell was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers and had nine points. Moseley added six points with two 3-pointers and also had three rebounds. Tech took the lead on a Toppin and-one and was up 47-37 on Atwell's third 3-pointer. Petty drilled his fourth for a 50-39 lead. Houston went into the break shooting 7-for-11 on 3-pointers and was 10-of-12 at the free-throw line. Toppin was 5-of-6 at the line to lead Tech which was 11-for-12 at the free-throw line through 20 minutes. Fleming led Houston with 22 points at halftime. Â
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