Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
7-3,0-0Big 12
No. 17 Arkansas
8-2,0-0SEC
No. 16 Red Raiders fall to No. 17 Razorbacks in Dallas
December 13, 2025 | Men's Basketball
DALLAS – All-time, the historic series is now tied at 41-all between Texas Tech and Arkansas after the No. 17 Razorbacks pulled out a 93-86 win on Saturday at American Airlines Center. JT Toppin led the No. 16-ranked Red Raiders with 30 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots while Christian Anderson also had a double-double with 26 points and matched a career-high with 11 assists.
"I thought they were more competitive than we were late in the game and I thought I mismanaged the last 10 minutes," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "I didn't do a good enough job with our rotations and defensively. We missed some opportunities to really be competitive that I think will allow us to be great. They're a great team and I think they were more connected than we were late. They scored at a really high rate and we didn't do a good enough job to make it difficult for them. We'll get better from it."
Tech (7-3) led by six at halftime and for 32 minutes in the game but couldn't hold off Arkansas (8-2) which made 17-of-26 free throws, owned a 40-33 rebounding advantage and knocked down 10 3-pointers. The Red Raiders were only 3-of-10 at the free-throw line in the game and finished 13-for-31 (41.9%) on 3-pointers. The Razorbacks took their first lead of the second half at 72-70 when Darius Acuff made a layup and free throw with 7:42 remaining and took a five-point lead with 4:20 to play on a Trevon Brazile dunk. A Toppin and-one with 2:44 to play cut it to three but the Red Raiders were not able to get it any closer as they fell to 0-3 against AP Top 25 opponents for the season.
"I felt like every momentum play in that last 10 minutes was all theirs," McCasland said. "We made some good plays offensively; I just don't know about defensively that I thought would impact the game in our favor. It's imposing your will defensively and we did not do that."
Toppin finished the game shooting 14-for-22 from the field and had seven offensive rebounds in his fifth double-double of the season and 36th of his career. Anderson was 5-for-11 on 3-pointers while LeJuan Watts, Donovan Atwell, Tyeree Bryan and Jaylen Petty hit two each. Atwell reached the 1,000-point career milestone after knocking down a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt of the game and finished the game with six points. Petty had eight points and six rebounds, Bryan added eight points and four assists while Watts finished with eight points, five assists and four rebounds. Toppin is now averaging 21.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game while Anderson is at 19.8 points and 7.6 assists per game.
The Red Raiders were 35-for-69 (50.7%) shooting from the field and made double-digit 3-pointers for the seventh game this season. The 30% shooting from the free-throw line was the first time the team has shot under 57% for the season. Tech played the game without Luke Bamgboye (concussion protocol) who had started the previous four games – limiting the team to only six Red Raiders who played in the game with Anderson and Toppin playing all 40 minutes. As a team, Tech recorded 21 assists on its 35 made shots.
Brazile led the Razorbacks with a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double while Acuff had 20 points and eight assists. Karter Knox added 20 points and six rebounds in a game where Arkansas shot 33-for-63 (52.4%) from the field along with going 10-for-19 (52.6%) on 3-pointers. Brazile finished the game 4-of-5 on 3-pointers and Knox was 3-for-4 from deep.
Texas Tech took a 49-43 lead into halftime with Bryan knocking down the team's eighth 3-pointer in the final seconds for the six-point lead. Toppin and Anderson led the Red Raiders with 15 points each in the opening half while Petty had eight points after hitting two 3s. Anderson was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, including his third to take a 31-21 lead. Atwell reached his milestone with his first shot, burying a 3-pointer for an early 13-7 lead and Petty would knock down 3s on consecutive trips to put the Red Raiders up 42-36. Arkansas would take a 43-42 lead before Tech finished the half on a 6-0 run. Tech went into the break shooting 8-for-15 on 3-pointers while Arkansas was at 5-for-11 from deep. The Red Raiders had 14 assists on 20 makes (50.7% shooting) in the first half, led by Watts and Anderson who had five assists each. Toppin, who was 7-for-10 from the field, also had five rebounds.
The 82nd meeting in the all-time series on Saturday followed Texas Tech earning an 85-83 overtime win last season in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Red Raiders are now 1-1 against SEC opponents this season after a win over LSU last weekend in Fort Worth.
Texas Tech returns home to host Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. on Tuesday before taking on No. 3 Duke next Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The Red Raiders are currently 5-0 at home this season and are on a 44-game non-conference home winning streak.
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