The transfer forward drops 36 in win as the thin Red Raiders roster exposes serious defensive flaws.
It was the kind of night that gets you etched into conference history, and still leaves your head coach furious.
Texas Tech transfer LeJuan Watts went off for a career-high 36 points in No. 19 Tech's 101-90 win over Northern Colorado, delivering one of the most efficient performances the Big 12 has ever seen.
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The redshirt junior forward shot 12-for-13 from the field, added six rebounds and four assists, and became the first player in Big 12 history to score 35-plus points on 90-plus percent shooting in a single game.
Watts, a 6-6 California native who previously spent time at Eastern Washington and Washington State, did it all ... driving, finishing through contact, stepping out for threes, and living at the line.
He hit three triples and went 9-of-11 from the stripe, using his frame and aggressiveness to put constant pressure on the Bears' defense.
For the season, he's now up to 14.0 points per game, easily a career high and exactly the kind of third option Tech has been desperate to find behind Christian Anderson and JT Toppin.
But while the offensive explosion was historic, the rest of the picture was a lot murkier.
Texas Tech's lack of depth and defensive cohesion was exposed again. Three days earlier, the Red Raiders ran a six-man rotation in a high-scoring loss to Arkansas.
That's not what you want to see in mid-December.
Against Northern Colorado, the same issues surfaced in tired legs, slow rotations, and a defense that looked a step behind all night.
Even with big man Luke Bamgboye returning, Tech struggled to protect the paint. Bamgboye played just seven minutes before exiting with another non-contact injury, and Northern Colorado responded by shooting 56.1 percent from the field, racking up 40 points in the paint and 17 second-chance points.
It followed a pattern over the last six games: three opponents have shot over 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep, with Arkansas hanging 93 and Northern Colorado putting up 90.
Head coach Grant McCasland didn't bother sugarcoating it afterward, openly questioning his team's connectedness on defense and warning that what they're doing now "isn’t even close" to Big 12 title-caliber defense.
He hinted that the rotation may have to change, even if it means throwing more freshmen into the fire, because effort and toughness on that end are non-negotiable.
With Anderson leading the league in minutes and six players already past the 250-minute mark, the Red Raiders are riding their core hard - and it's starting to show.
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Now comes the proving ground.
Tech heads to Madison Square Garden to face No. 3 Duke on Saturday before opening Big 12 play and later traveling to Houston.
If the Red Raiders don't fix their defensive leaks and find real minutes from their bench, even nights like Watts' historic explosion may not be enough to keep them afloat in the grind that's coming.