As good as it gets

Good morning! Ready for a short week?

On that note, we’ll be off on Thursday and Friday this week since there are no college hoops games.

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1. Was Texas Tech’s win vs. Duke best non-con victory?

Texas Tech dealt with injuries and foul trouble, yet still picked up a massive win on Saturday. And it might be one that matters most of all on Selection Sunday.

The Red Raiders didn’t have Luke Bamgboye, Marial Akuentok and Josiah Moseley due to injuries, had LeJuan Watts and Leon Horner foul out and even trailed by 17 points in the second half. Yet they still found a way to defeat No. 4 Duke, 82-81 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

It may just be the best non-conference win of the season given the circumstances, up there with Iowa State’s trouncing of Purdue and Arizona’s win over UConn in Storrs.

“You don’t get these games very often,” coach Grant McCasland said postgame. “When you do, to be able to have just a gritty performance like this and have our guys battling and playing the way we did, it really makes it special.”

Christian Anderson was marvelous, carrying Texas Tech (9-3) down the stretch and finishing with a game-high 27 points. Watts had 20 points before he fouled out, and Toppin posted another double-double with 19 points and 10 boards.

The Anderson-Toppin pairing is arguably the sport’s best point guard-big man duo, and Watts has emerged as that third guy. That gives Tech more balance, and a big win entering Big 12 play.

Duke (11-1) will deal with those who say they choked down the stretch. But I’d argue Tech took it from them. Cam Boozer had 23 points, 8 rebounds and seven assists, and Duke had plenty of scoring balance behind him. It just wasn’t as good as Tech,

“I always look at myself first and what I can do better, we’ve been playing with fire a little bit,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said “We did not defend in the 2nd half the way we can.”

2. Houston handles Arkansas in a reminder game

All of the talk heading into the Arkansas-Houston on Saturday was about the rise of the Razorbacks, but the Cougs reminded us just how good they are with a 94-85 win.

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