Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
19-6,9-3Big 12
No. 1 Arizona
23-2,10-2Big 12
No. 16 Tech knocks off No. 1 Arizona in overtime
February 14, 2026 | Men's Basketball
TUCSON, Arizona – No. 16 Texas Tech earned its third win over a No. 1-ranked team in program history and third victory over a top 10 team this season with a 78-75 overtime win against No. 1 Arizona on Saturday at the McKale Memorial Center. JT Toppin led the Red Raiders (19-6, 9-3 Big 12) with 31 points and 13 rebounds – scoring eight of Tech's 12 points in overtime, securing seven offensive rebounds and recording his 16th double-double of the season.
"I love the fight of this team," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "JT and Christian weren't going to let us lose. JT Toppin was not going to be denied at the end of this game. You don't come into this building and win unless you're fighting and competitive. I love being part of this team."
Christian Anderson added 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a game where he went 6-for-15 on 3-pointers while Donovan Atwell made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. LeJuan Watts contributed nine points and four rebounds while Leon Horner came in as a reserve and had five points and five rebounds. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 11-for-33 on 3-pointers while Arizona (23-2, 10-2 Big 12) was only 4-for-16. At the free-throw line, Tech was 13-of-19 and Arizona went 23-of-31. The two teams both had 26 points in the paint in a game with 11 lead changes and 11 ties.
"Going into this game watching film, you see how physical they are in the way they dominate the paint," McCasland said. "We talked about having a hit-first mentality. If you don't hit first, you're losing. On everything. On transition defense, when they're at the rim, sealing. When you're on a ball-screen, if you're not the most physical one when the shot goes up. We were 26-26 in the paint. That's the stat of the game."
Down seven in regulation with just over three minutes remaining, Toppin made a pair of free throws to start chipping away and then a hook shot to bring the deficit to 64-61. Donovan Atwell trimmed it to a one-point game with a pair of free throws and gave Tech a 66-64 lead by making a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining. Two free throws by Arizona's Ivan Kharchenvok with 16 seconds to play forced Tech's first overtime game of the season and set up Toppin to continue dominating where he opened the extra session with Tech's first three baskets before Atwell hit again to give the Red Raiders a 75-71 lead with two minutes remaining. Toppin's final shot of the game pushed Tech's lead to 77-73 with 1:18 on the clock.
Atwell, who was held scoreless in the first half, now has 301 career 3-pointers after making two 3s in the second half and his third in overtime. Toppin's performance was his ninth game of his career with 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds and he now has 47 career double-doubles. "I knew if they were going to switch then I had to be aggressive," Toppin said. He finished the game 13-for-22 from the field, made one 3-pointer and was 4-of-6 at the free-throw line. It was his fifth game this season with five or more offensive rebounds. Tied at 32 at halftime, Anderson came out hot and put Tech up 39-35 with a pair of 3-pointers before Atwell's first for a 42-39 lead. Arizona, which had five players in double-figure scoring and finished with a slim 41-39 rebounding advantage, tied the game at 42 with an Anthony Dell'orso 3-pointer and started building momentum and a lead midway through the second half before the Red Raiders made their comeback.
Tech's win over No. 1 Arizona is its third in program history and second in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders also went on the road and earned a 65-62 win over No. 1 Baylor on January 11, 2022 for its last win over a top-ranked team after earning a win over No. 1 Louisville on December 10, 2019 at Madison Square Garden for the program's first ever win over No. 1. The program is now 3-8 against top-ranked opponents after falling earlier this season to then-No. 1 Purdue in the Bahamas. This season, Tech also knocked off then-No. 3 Duke on December 20 at MSG and also then-No. 6 Houston on January 24 at home. The team is now 3-2 against top 10 opponents this season and 4-5 against ranked opponents overall.
On a big stage, Toppin and Anderson continued showing why they're the only teammates in the nation who are both on the Wooden Award Top 20 list in the prime time game. Anderson is now averaging 19.1 points and 7.7 assists this season while Toppin is now at 21.9 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. Atwell adds 12.5 points per game and leads Tech with 90 made 3-pointers and is shooting 44.6% from beyond the arc. Anderson's seventh game this season with five or more 3-pointers now has him with 84 made 3-pointers and 43.5%. Both players have their sites on Tech's single-season record of 94 that is owned by Cory Carr from the 1996-97 season.
Texas Tech and Arizona went into halftime tied at 32 with Anderson leading the Red Raiders with 12 points and Topping having 11 through 20 minutes. The Red Raiders were 6-for-19 (31.6%) on 3-pointers with Anderson going 4-for-9, including hitting his first 3-pointer to tie the game at 10 and his fourth to cut an Arizona lead to only 29-28. Tech took a 30-29 lead on the next possession with Toppin hitting a layup off an assist from Anderson who had six assists in the first half. Horner had five points in the first half with a 3-pointer that had Tech down 25-20. Arizona had a 20-15 rebounding in the first half but was only 2-for-8 (25.0%) on 3-pointers and 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the free-throw line. Awaka was leading the Wildcats with nine points and four rebounds while Bradley had eight points and two assists. Both teams went into the break with only four turnovers but Tech had a 6-2 scoring advantage off them.
Texas Tech stays in the state of Arizona where it will play Arizona State at 10 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday at the Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils (13-12, 4-8 Big 12) were off this weekend and are coming off an 85-76 win over Oklahoma State last Tuesday to improve to 7-5 on their home court this season. The Red Raiders return home after their matchup against ASU by hosting Kansas State at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena.
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