No. 15 Texas Tech uses late surge to hand No. 11 BYU 1st Big 12 loss

PROVO — BYU men's basketball landed a punch in a top-15 Big 12 road environment Saturday night.

Texas Tech had the knockout blow with a flurry.

Reigning Big 12 player of the year JT Toppin poured in 27 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 15 Texas Tech used a 29-6 run late in the second half to hand No. 11 BYU its first loss in Big 12 play 84-71 in Lubbock, Texas.

Christian Anderson added 22 points and seven assists for the Red Raiders (14-4, 4-1 Big 12), and LeJuan Watts scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half to help the hosts pull away in front of a wired crowd at United Supermarkets Arena.

Baylor transfer Robert Wright III totaled a career-high 28 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead BYU (16-2, 4-1 Big 12); and Richie Saunders had 18 points, four rebounds, two steals and a block.

AJ Dybantsa finished with 13 points and three rebounds, including just 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting in the second half.

There may be no nights off in the Big 12. But Saturday night may be one BYU hopes to forget — or maybe not.

"It's just like this game after game after game," Saunders told BYU Radio. "This is our first one in an environment like this. It's fun to play in, and it's more fun to win. We've just got to get better and grow."

On a night when Texas Tech honored its 2025 Big 12 champion football team, the Cougars and Red Raiders played a back-and-forth game that felt like a Big 12 championship of its own.

Undefeated Arizona, Houston and Iowa State will undoubtedly have something to say about that. But if nothing else, the Red Raiders and Cougars proved that the Big 12 goes at least 4-5 deep with the Red Raiders' second Associated Press Top 15 win of the season.

"We just didn't sustain what we needed to sustain for 40 minutes. That was my message to the guys," BYU coach Kevin Young said.

"They're really good; I've always respected Grant and think he does a great job," the second-year head coach added. "When you're playing at their house against a good team, you have to sustain effort for 40 minutes. It's hard to have lapses, and we did that too much."

After trailing by as much as 6 early in the game, BYU pulled back into the game with what coaches often refer to as "the little things." While the Red Raiders canned 3-of-13 triples before the break and held BYU scoreless from the 3-point line until Mihailo Boskovic's three with 3:15 left in the half.

Dybantsa even found Saunders on the break for a dunk that gave BYU its first lead 15-13 with 11:47 left in the half.

Toppins had 10 points and eight rebounds at the break. But the Cougars outrebounded Texas Tech 23-18, pulled down six offensive boards, and outscored the hosts 24-10 in the paint to stay within one, 32-31, at halftime.

Wright converted five of his first eight attempts for 16 points, including 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, to help BYU lead by as much as 9 points with 9:26 remaining.

Saunders, too, hated up in the second half, capping a 16-2 run with his third 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 61-52 advantage midway through the half.

The senior from Riverton by way of Wasatch Academy then blocked a 3-point attempt in transition moments later as Texas Tech went scoreless on all but one possession for more than four minutes.

But the Red Raiders didn't wilt.

Watts dropped in a 3-pointer with 4:12 remaining, then found Anderson in transition to cap a 20-4 run that put Texas Tech back in front 72-65 with 3:14 remaining as the Red Raiders held BYU to just two field goals in the final seven minutes.

"They hit some big shots," Saunders said. "Some of it was our mistakes of getting into the foul line, and we'll have to stomach that. But they out-competed us in the last 3-4 minutes. It was tough, man."

BYU has a week before hosting rival Utah next Saturday, Jan. 24 (3:30 p.m. MST, FOX).

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