No. 19 Texas Tech rallies from 17 down in 2nd half to stun No. 3 Duke 82-81 at MSG

NEW YORK — Christian Anderson scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half, including the tiebreaking free throw with 3.4 seconds left, and No. 19 Texas Tech rallied from 17 down to beat third-ranked Duke 82-81 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Anderson was fouled by Caleb Foster and made the front end of a 1-and-1 before missing his second attempt. Isaiah Evans grabbed the rebound with 1.6 seconds remaining, and Duke called a timeout to set up a play.

Foster inbounded near the Texas Tech bench, but Cameron Boozer’s 3-point try bounced off the rim — and the shot might have come just after the final horn, anyway.

Red Raiders players poured off the bench to celebrate as Texas Tech (9-3) improved to 1-3 against Top 25 opponents this season and snapped a six-game skid versus ranked teams.

It was the program's first win over a top-five foe since defeating No. 1 Baylor 65-62 in January 2022.

After leading 58-41 with 16 1/2 minutes to go, Duke (11-1) blew a 17-point lead in a loss for the first time since February 2007 against Florida State.

Anderson gave Texas Tech an 81-77 lead by converting a three-point play with 1:14 left. Cayden Boozer drained a corner 3-pointer for Duke before his twin brother tied the score at 81 when he made one of two free throws with 18 seconds remaining.

LeJuan Watts scored 20 points for Texas Tech before fouling out with 11:33 left, and the Red Raiders shot 55.2% from the field. JT Toppin overcame foul trouble and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. His jumper over Cameron Boozer gave Texas Tech a 78-77 advantage with 1:35 left.

Cameron Boozer led Duke with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He shot 7 for 11 from the floor, but the freshman forward missed five of his 14 free throws.

Cayden Boozer added 13 points off the bench for Duke, which held an 11-point lead with under 6 1/2 minutes remaining.

The Blue Devils, who shot 51.9%, had won nine straight games at MSG.

Up next

Texas Tech: Will host Winthrop on Dec. 28.

Duke: Will host Georgia Tech in its ACC opener on Dec. 31.

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