Texas Tech erased a 17-point deficit at Madison Square Garden, riding Christian Anderson's heroics to a statement win over No. 3 Duke before Big 12 play.
The No. 19 Texas Tech Red Raiders had been searching for this one.
Close calls against Illinois in Champaign. A missed opportunity against Purdue in the Bahamas. A blown lead against Arkansas in Dallas. For weeks, the narrative around Grant McCasland's team was simple ... talented, tough, but still missing a true signature win.
That story changed under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
Facing their highest-ranked opponent of the season, the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils, the Red Raiders delivered a gut-check performance and walked out of basketball's Mecca with a defining 82-81 win. Tech improved to 9-3 with the comeback, erasing a 17-point deficit and flipping what felt like a familiar script on its head.
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And they did it shorthanded, imperfect, and absolutely unbowed.
Injuries and roster issues had become early-season caveats. Big man Luke Bamgboye has appeared in just seven games, and the Red Raiders' defense has clearly missed his presence in the paint, especially in back-to-back outings where they gave up 90 to Northern Colorado and 93 to Arkansas. McCasland also admitted his rotations had gotten too tight, a problem he vowed to fix.
Against Duke, they finally found the right mix.
Tech trailed by 11 with 6:30 left, and Duke looked ready to cruise. Instead, sophomore guard Christian Anderson flipped the game on its head. One of the top scorers in the Big 12, Anderson poured in 17 of Tech's final 23 points, finishing with a game-high 27 points and five assists.
McCasland said postgame that Anderson can be "slow to warm up" and that he challenged him at halftime to stop waiting and start attacking.
"Dude, you're going to have to score," McCasland told him. "You can't wait… just go right at him and go get baskets."
Message received.
The Red Raiders' foul issues only raised the degree of difficulty. Redshirt junior forward LeJuan Watts and sophomore guard Leon Horner both fouled out. Star forward JT Toppin picked up his fourth foul. With Bamgboye out, Tech's front line was held together by grit and game-planning.
That's where the rotation shift showed up. Freshman guard Nolan Groves and Horner each logged 13 minutes - their most significant run in weeks. Groves didn't fill up the stat sheet, but he finished a game-best plus-13 in his minutes.
"It's pretty cool when you got a guy like Nolan Groves who shoots an airball and goes 0-for-2… but he's a plus-13," McCasland said. That shows you what impact you can have on a college basketball game, no matter what."
Before Duke, Tech's best win was LSU.
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Now, the Red Raiders own two victories over one-loss teams - the Tigers and Blue Devils - and head into a brutal Big 12 slate with proof of concept.
McCasland has already called the Big 12 the second-best league in the world behind the NBA, and the schedule backs him up.
Texas Tech hosts Winthrop on Dec. 28, then opens conference play with Oklahoma State at home on Jan. 3 before a trip to Houston on Jan. 6 to face last season's national runners-up. Colorado, Utah, BYU, Baylor, and a rematch with Houston all loom.
That's why this win matters so much. It's not just a blip, it's a blueprint.
Down the stretch against Duke, Tech finally found the defensive toughness and rebounding edge it's been missing.
"Offense isn't going to be this team's problem," McCasland said. "Our problem’s going to, and has been, just how physical can we be without fouling and can we rebound?"
In New York, the Red Raiders answered that question when it mattered. Outnumbered in the stands, undermanned in the rotation, and written off midway through the second half, they still punched back.
That's the heart of being a Red Raider ... let people count you out, then show them what happens.