On the heels of a historic comeback win over previously undefeated Duke in Madison Square Garden, Texas Tech returned to action Monday against Winthrop looking to avoid a letdown in its final nonconference game.
The 15th-ranked Red Raiders responded in a big way with an 87-57 win after picking up their 46th straight non-con home win. Coach Grant McCasland’s squad has now won three straight games since a Dec. 13 loss to Arkansas in what was a rematch of a Sweet Sixteen game last season won by the Razorbacks.
“Our guys didn’t look like we’d done something,” McCasland said after the Winthrop game. “It looked like we were building on something.”
Christian Anderson has led the ascent for Texas Tech. After scoring 23 of his 27 points in the decisive second half against Duke, the 6-foot-3 sophomore poured in 25 points in the first half vs. Winthrop. He finished with 29 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in what was his sixth 20-point game of the season.
So far this season, Anderson is averaging 20.6 points and 7.1 assists while shooting 43.6 percent from three-point land as the perimeter complement to returning Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin (21.0 points, 10.6 rebounds). Anderson’s offensive production has doubled from a season ago, when he averaged 10.6 points and 2.2 assists and made the All-Big 12 Freshman Team after starting the final five games, which included a 22-point outburst against Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen.
With multiple injuries leaving the Red Raiders short-handed, especially on the interior, McCasland said his team is probably at “60 percent of what we’re capable of” after entering the season with significant outside expectations. Texas Tech started the season ranked 10th in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the highest preseason ranking in program history, before early losses to No. 14 Illinois and top-ranked Purdue. The Raiders recovered by winning three straight going into the Arkansas game.
The Red Raiders have been at their best when Anderson is looking for his shot, and McCasland continues to encourage his young playmaker to stay aggressive on the offensive end. He had a career-high 34 points in the season-opener against Lindenwood after averaging 17.4 points and 6.6 assists and winning a silver medal last summer in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup for the German national team.
“Christian is such a willing distributor; he just makes the right play,” McCasland said. “Like at halftime of the Duke game, I’ve got to remind him you’ve got to think to score on every opportunity and then just keep making the simple play.”
Anderson made the right plays at the right time against Winthrop, which was averaging 90.3 points per game before the Red Raiders forced 15 turnovers and held the Eagles to 16 percent shooting from deep.
“He’s starting to sense how to run it the right way and get the motor to rev without redlining it and without putting it in neutral,” McCasland said. “He had a special half in his change of pace and in his attack, and he’s growing into that. I think that comes with confidence and to be honest with how they were guarding the ball screens putting a lot of squeeze on JT and not letting the ball get past them.
“Christian saw that from the beginning, and it’s awesome to see him see the advantages quicker and take it … It’s fun to see his attack mode become part of every possession.”
With Anderson at the controls, McCasland believes in Texas Tech’s potential as Big 12 play begins.
“Trying to get people to play with their ultimate confidence is the key,” McCasland said. “The more we get experience, the better we will get. It will take some time.”
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Jayhawks still flying high without Peterson
Kansas (10-3) closed its non-con portion of the season Monday by beating Davidson as star freshman guard Darryn Peterson missed a second straight game and ninth overall with a lingering hamstring injury. His status for KU’s Big 12 opener Saturday at UCF is unknown.
Peterson, still projected by most experts as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, has averaged 19.3 points on 42.3-percent shooting from deep in four games. He missed seven games after scoring a career-high 22 points in a Nov. 7 loss at North Carolina before returning with a pair of 17-point efforts in December wins over Missouri and NC State.
“He wants to be out there,” Self said after the Davidson game. “He’s just not ready.”
Other players have stepped forward in Peterson’s absence. Returning 6-foot-10 sophomore Flory Bidunga (14.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks) has doubled his production from a season ago. Illinois transfer Tre White (14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds) and St. Bonaventure transfer Melvin Council Jr. (12.9 points, 5.2 assists) have been productive in the backcourt.
White had 20 points and 13 rebounds against Missouri. Council had career highs of 36 points and nine three-pointers in the win over NC State and has 25 points, 10 assists and only two turnovers in the past two games.
“I thought this was the best we’ve looked, don’t you guys think, offensively?” Self said after the Davidson win. “The ball moved and (we) played with pace.”
Around the rim
• AJ Dybantsa has lived up to the hype so far this season as the freshman phenom is the nation’s second-leading scorer (23.1 points) for a top-10 team at BYU (12-1). He’s been efficient with 59.1-percent shooting from the floor and chipped in 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
After some strong performances in the season’s opening month, the 6-foot-9 forward from Massachusetts has taken his game to another level in December. He’s averaged 28.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists in the past six games while shooting at a 65.9-percent clip (58 for 88). On Dec. 22, he had BYU’s first triple-double since 2016 after totaling 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over Eastern Washington. That came one game after logging a career-high 35 points against Abilene Christian.
Dybantsa is the second player in Big 12 history with a 30/10/10 triple-double — Colorado’s David Harrison had the other in 2002 — and the first of the points/rebounds/assists variety.
“He’s really starting to understand how aggressive he can be,” BYU coach Kevin Young said after the Eastern Washington game. “College basketball by nature is physical. With his ability to get by his man, people put hands on him, so he’s able to get to the line a lot, and then for the most part they were playing in one-on-one coverage. He’s able to do that. With the 10 assists, once he started drawing more of a crowd, he was able to find guys. I’m more happy with the 10 rebounds.”
• Top-ranked Arizona (13-0) blasted South Dakota State 99-71 Monday to complete non-con play behind Koa Peat’s 19 points and career-high 14 rebounds and Jaden Bradley’s 13 points and personal-best 10 assists. It’s the best start to a season for the Wildcats since setting a school record by winning their first 21 games in 2013-14. It was their eighth straight win by at least 20 points, which matches the school record set in 1928-29.
• Baylor freshman standout Tounde Yessoufou had 28 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in Monday’s 124-61 blowout of Arlington Baptist for the first 25/5/5 game in school history. For the Bears, it was their third straight game with 110-plus points, a feat that only one other major conference school (Texas A&M) has accomplished this season. Baylor has won 52 straight non-con home games, which is the nation’s second-longest active streak behind only Auburn (64).
• With Monday’s win over Houston Christian, third-ranked Iowa State is now 13-0 for the second time in program history. The Cyclones started 14-0 in 2013-14.
• Oklahoma State improved to 12-1 with Monday’s win over Bethune-Cookman. This will be the first time since 2013-14 that the Cowboys enter Big 12 play with at least a dozen wins, and that’s despite having 10 different players miss a game this season due to injury or illness.
Games to watch
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech, Jan. 3 (ESPN2)
The Cowboys (12-1) are off to a hot season in Steve Lutz’s second season but will face a major challenge in Lubbock against Texas Tech (10-3) in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Both squads have battled injuries this season and can score a lot of points, so defensive stops will be key. Keep an eye on the interior matchup between Texas Tech’s JT Toppin and Oklahoma State’s Parsa Fallah.
Kansas at UCF, Jan. 3 (Peacock)
The Jayhawks (10-3) might be without injured star guard Darryn Peterson, but they’ve proven to be able to win games without him when Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. are at their best. UCF (11-1) has won 10 straight games behind a balanced offensive attack led by proven distributor Themus Fulks.
Texas Tech at Houston, Jan. 6 (FS1)
Houston (12-1) opens its quest for a third straight Big 12 championship at home against a Texas Tech team that has been on the upswing since its huge win over Duke. Grant McCasland needs a big performance from guard Christian Anderson against Houston’s Kingston Flemings.
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