Final Buzzer Feeling: Duke
Texas Tech took down No. 3 Duke 82-81 on Saturday night from Madison Square Garden in New York City after staging a furious rally which saw the Red Raiders come back from down 17 points.
That was the most improbable Texas Tech win I’ve ever seen, probably in any sport. I can’t believe what I just saw.
Grant McCasland reminds everyone he’s still a top 5 coach in college basketball. His ability to motivate his players and give them a chance to win is second to none. He was sorta forced to play Leon Horner and Nolan Groves in this one but both played huge roles in guarding future lottery pick Cameron Boozer. More of that moving forward, please.
LeJuan Watts kept Tech in it early. He was so good before he fouled out. 20 pounds, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals. He’s been very good lately. Keep that up and he’s the D5 replacement that was promised.
JT Toppin had 4 fouls and somehow stayed on the floor the rest of the game. That was massive as the only healthy big. 19 points and 10 rebounds playing against one of the best front courts in the country is not bad.
Christian Anderson completely took over the game down the stretch, making tough shot after tough shot. 27 points on 14 field goal attempts, against Duke? Are you kidding me? The 5 turnovers were not ideal, including one late, but that’s a tough matchup. Overall a great C4 game after a slow start.
Jaylen Petty‘s statline won’t jump out but he competed like hell and played 31 minutes as a skinny true freshman against a top 3 Duke squad. Those were valuable minutes and he was not afraid of the moment.
Anderson’s 2nd missed free throw was not intentional but not a bad result. It took about 2 seconds off the clock on the rebound and forced Duke to call their last timeout, also making them in-bound the ball in the back court. Was not upset at that miss.
Just a massive win for Texas Tech against all odds. Hostile environment in front of a crowd made up of 75% Duke fans, shorthanded, foul trouble, down by 17 in the 2nd half and you won. That’s a win that will be remembered in Lubbock for a long time.
A week off until the final non-conference game vs Winthrop before Big 12 begins. Getting any of your 3 injured dudes back in time for conference play would be ideal and probably necessary if they are going to compete for the top of the league.
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