Christian Anderson poured in 27 points that included five 3-pointers as No. 19 Texas Tech waylaid previously undefeated LSU 82-58 on Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader at the Coast-to-Coast Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Red Raiders (7-2) dominated from the opening minutes, led by 21 points at halftime and never let LSU sniff a comeback. Anderson ruled the first half, when he scored 20 of his points, and his teammates took up the mantle in the second as Texas Tech built its advantage to 30 points with 6:46 to play before calling off the dogs.
LeJuan Watts scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and JT Toppin and Jaylen Petty had 11 points apiece for Texas Tech, which has won three straight games. Toppin also took a game-high 15 rebounds.
Dedan Thomas Jr. led LSU (8-1) with 13 points while Michael Nwoko had 10. The Tigers shot just 33.3% from the floor.
The Red Raiders ran off eight of the game’s first nine points over the first three minutes, with a pull-up 3-pointer by Donovan Atwell capping the early surge. A layup by Anderson at the 12:16 mark of the half stoked Texas Tech’s lead to 23-9, but the Red Raiders were hungry for even more.
LSU briefly stymied the onslaught when a pair of free throws by Rashad King with 9:58 in the half cut the deficit to 13 points. But Texas Tech kept on the attack and grew its lead to 38-16 with 5:51 left before halftime, aided by triples from Petty and Anderson.
Thomas’ stepback jumper with 39 seconds to play allowed the Tigers to wrap up a forgettable first half down 47-26.
Anderson’s 20 points before halftime were just six points off LSU’s total output. The Tigers were led by Thomas’ seven points.
LSU played better in the first minutes after the break, trimming its deficit to 17 on a jumper by King seven and a half minutes into the second half. The Red Raiders quickly expanded the margin to 65-44 on a layup by Toppin, after which it was just a matter of how big Texas Tech’s win would be.
TCU defeated North Texas 65-55 in the other game of the event’s doubleheader.
–Field Level Media
