Game Links:
Tortilla Tossin’ Player of the Game: Christian Anderson. Obviously. Anderson finished 9 of 14, including 5 of 9 from deep, 4 of 6 from the line, 3 boards, 5 assists, 5 turnovers, and 3 steals. In the 1st half, Anderson was 1 of 4 with 4 points and in the 2nd half, it was all about him, going 8 of 10 from the field including an incredible and-1 from a Jaylen Petty steal.
The Motion:
- What an improbable win. Just unbelievable in a way. You just don’t come back from teams when down from 17. That’s just not usually within the realm of outcomes. When it was 41-58 with 16:31 remaining, Texas Tech had a 1.6% chance of winning the game. When it was 63-74 with 6:29 remaining, Texas Tech had 3.7% chance of winning. That’s just probability based on thousands of games and similar scores, so when this thing happens, you’ve watched something incredibly special. And the probability was all in favor of Duke until it wasn’t. That’s about 18 seconds of a 40 minute game.
- I usually wait to look at the advanced stats until I have written everything so I don’t have any bias about what I saw with my eyes. There are obviously a couple of big stories. Anderson’s huge night. Leon Horner AND LeJuan Watts fouling out with a ton of time remaining, I think Watts fouled out with 11 minutes remaining or something like that. Nolan Groves having to come in and play huge minutes against Cameron Boozer, a player of the year candidate. LeJuan Watts absolutely balled out in the 1st half with 7 of 13 for 14 points. JT Toppin scored 10 in the 1st half and 9 in the 2nd half.
- There was some chatter after the game about how, “don’t you dare not call Anderson a point guard” and I absolutely will do that. I think he can play the point, but I am convinced he’s a better off-ball scorer and creator than with the ball in his hands than a true point guard. You will never convince me otherwise that if there was an Elijah Hawkins type of player on this team, Anderson would be be that much better and probably averaging 25 a game. I think he’s that good of a shooter and understands how to get his shot off better than most. If there was a point guard that could find when he does get open, he’d be ridiculous and he’s incredible now. I sometimes get tired of online experts telling me what to think.
- It doesn’t seem like it, but Texas Tech limited Duke, a much, much bigger team, to just 6 offensive rebounds and 8 2nd chance points. That’s a big key right there. Texas Tech had more offensive boards, 7 and the same number of points.
- We talked above about Duke not hitting shots in the 2nd half and it was definitely a tale of two halves. Texas Tech mad 48% of their shots and was just 1 of 9 from deep, 11%. The 2nd half was a different story, 62% from the field and 46%, (4 of 7) from beyond the arc. A ton of that was Anderson, but Watts was 3 of 4 and Toppin was 4 of 6.
- Texas Tech shot 55% and I am guessing that the Duke coaches are going to be most upset at this. That and free throws, they made just 59% and normally make 70%, just 17 of 29 on the evening including just 6 of 13 in the 2nd half. I’d also add that Duke went cold from deep, they sort of regressed to what they are, going 3 of 13 from 3-point range. That was a big part of the issues for Duke. It wasn’t Cameron Boozer not playing well, he went 5 of 6, it was the inability to get him the ball in a spot where he could score.
- The one player that I think we can definitively say that McCasland is not happy with is Tyeree Bryan, who played 3 minutes and didn’t play the 2nd half despite the fact that Texas Tech was running out of players . I am guessing his inability to find the right man and get lost on screens is getting him a seat on the bench. I don’t know what happens from here on out, but I am guessing that Leon Horner might get the call at some point to replace him in the rotation. Or maybe even Josiah Mosely, who McCasland said last week I think that January is when he’s looking like he will return.
- Head coach Grant McCasland: “What a tremendous college basketball atmosphere. 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.”
- Advanced Stats: Anderson +9.2; Watts +3.2; Horner +0.2; Atwell +0.1; Toppin -2.6; Groves -3.6; Petty -5.9; and Bryan -0.2.
- Up next? Texas Tech is off for the Christmas break and will return to action on Sunday, December 28th hosting Winthrop with tip-off at 1:00 p.m. and the game on TNT of all things. I’ll be interested on their production as they were great with football.
Highlights
Battle together. Win together. pic.twitter.com/B2I9AVHzzW
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) December 21, 2025