JT Toppin, No. 16 Texas Tech outlast No. 1 Arizona in OT

Field Level MediaSun, February 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM UTC

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Feb 14, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) dribbles the ball while Texas Tech Red Raiders forward LeJuan Watts (3) attempts to block him during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images (Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images)

JT Toppin had 31 points, eight of them in overtime, and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead No. 16 Texas Tech to a 78-75 win over No. 1 Arizona on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.

Toppin recorded his 16th double-double of the season for the Red Raiders (19-6, 9-3 Big 12), who have won three straight.

Arizona (23-2, 10-2) has lost consecutive games after starting the season unbeaten through its first 23 games.

Christian Anderson, who played all 45 minutes, finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Texas Tech.

Arizona had five players in double figures, led by 16 points from Tobe Awaka and Brayden Burries. Ivan Kharchenkov finished with 13 points, Jaden Bradley had 11 and Motiejus Krivas scored 10 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. .

Toppin scored Texas Tech's first six points of overtime to give the Red Raiders a 72-69 lead with 2:34 left.

Burries made two free throws with 2:17 remaining in the extra period to cut that lead to one point before a 3-pointer by Donovan Atwell, who finished with 11 points, gave the Red Raiders a 75-71 lead with 2:05 left.

Awaka was fouled and he made both free throws with 1:37 remaining.

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After Toppin made a shot in the lane, Awaka converted a putback to cut the lead to 77-75 with 59 seconds left.

Texas Tech had two offensive rebounds before LeJuan Watts was fouled with 4.5 seconds left. Watts made one of two free-throw attempts to give the Red Raiders a 78-75 lead.

A would-be game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer by Bradley was off the mark.

Trailing by seven with 3:15 left in regulation, Texas Tech went on a 9-0 run down the stretch, taking advantage of Arizona missing seven straight field-goal attempts.

After a missed layup by Bradley and a failed tip-in attempt by Krivas, Atwell made a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to give Texas Tech a 66-64 lead.

Kharchenkov was fouled and he made two free throws with 16 seconds left to tie the game. A last-second attempt by Anderson bounced off the rim and out.

Heralded Arizona freshman forward Koa Peat, who did not attempt a field goal, did not play in the second half because of a lower-body injury.

Dwayne Aristode, a freshman reserve for the Wildcats, was sidelined due to an illness.

--Field Level Media

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”