Texas Tech Red Raiders complete comeback to stun Duke

On Saturday night at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, No. 19 Texas Tech Red Raiders rallied to beat No. 3 Duke 82-81, achieving the program’s first win over the Blue Devils after dropping the first two matchups. Behind 17 early in the second half, the Red Raiders came back from behind thanks to Christian Anderson, who scored 23 of his game-high 27 points in the final 20 minutes, including the game-winning free throw with 3.4 seconds remaining.

Texas Tech (9-3) jumped out to a 9-0 lead, forcing a Duke timeout just over two minutes into the game. Duke responded with Nikolas Khamenia hitting a corner three-pointer and a fast-break layup, and Dame Sarr’s triple brought the Blue Devils within 13-10 midway through the first half. Darren Harris hit a contested three-pointer to give Duke its first lead at 19-18, and the Blue Devils gradually built a double-digit advantage, entering halftime with a 46-36 lead. Cameron Boozer led Duke with 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists at the break. Dame Sarr managed nine points, going 3-for-4 from three.

The Red Raiders turned the game around in the second half, as Anderson connected on four second-half 3-pointers and executed a four-point play at the 12:07 mark to cut the Blue Devils’ lead to 63-55. JT Toppin connected on a timely turnaround jumper to give Texas Tech a 78-77 lead with under two minutes remaining, before Anderson’s clutch free throws secured the win. Toppin finished with his sixth double-double of the season, tallying 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Even though he fouled out with 11 minutes to go, LeJuan Watts went out strong with 20 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. The Red Raiders also received contributions from Leon Horner (six points), Jaylen Petty (five points), and Nolan Groves, who provided a +13 impact in 13 minutes defensively. Texas Tech completed 7-of-22 from three-point range, improving after a 1-of-9 first-half showing, with Anderson hitting 5-of-9 from deep. The team shot 32-of-58 (.552) from the field, the first time an opponent shot over 50 percent this season against the Blue Devils

Duke (11-1) got a team-high 23 points, eight rebounds, and a career-high seven assists from Cameron Boozer, with Cayden Boozer chipping in 13 points. Dame Sarr made three first-half triples, matching his career high, and Maliq Brown put up seven points, five rebounds, and five steals. Keeping the Red Raiders under 83.6 points wasn’t enough for the Blue Devils as they were out-rebounded 30-29 and their nine-game winning streak at MSG came to an end.

This victory was Texas Tech’s 15th win over a top-five opponent, its largest comeback of the season, and the biggest over Duke since 2007. The Red Raiders will return home after their holiday break to continue their non-conference schedule, hosting Winthrop on December 28 before opening Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on January 3.

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