Christian Anderson Reveals Key Change Made Against Cincinnati, Extend Win Streak
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Texas Tech's Christian Anderson revealed the key change made against Cincinnati that helped the team extend its win streak to 2-0 without JT Toppin.
The Red Raiders are now 2-0 without their All-American big man. Anderson, who scored 31 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, revealed head coach Grant McCasland emphasized guard rebounding in practice the last week or so.
"The past couple of practices, we've been emphasizing how the guards can get rebounds, especially with JT being out," Anderson said following the 80-68 victory over the Bearcats.
Christian Anderson says Texas Tech has emphasized guard rebounding in practice the last week or so, part of why he grabbed 11 boards tonight. pic.twitter.com/tr9aub9Qdr
— Nathan Giese (@NathanGiese) February 25, 2026
Anderson recorded his eighth double-double of the season and added seven assists to his stat line Tuesday night.
"Our team really played together," Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland said. "They played with a consistent effort to improve. That's how we played. Christian Anderson was tremendous. He settled us and LeJuan Watts was awesome in the second half offensively getting foul pressure. Couple things I told our team before the game, how well we rebound and we outrebounded them 40-24 and 19-8 on second-chance points.
"Donovan Atwell had a couple huge offensive rebounds. Then I thought we needed to guard them without fouling and we ended up making more free throws than they shot. We haven't done that in back-to-back games all year and we did it. Those two areas were big for me and I'm thrilled with how our guys competed."
Red Raiders Defy Doubters As Win Streak Continues Without JT Toppin
There were certainly doubters when the Red Raiders lost Toppin, a player who had been dubbed as irreplaceable.
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports believes the Red Raiders' hopes of a national championship ended with Toppin's injury. However, the squad has continued to fight its way to March.
"Grant McCasland and that staff and that team, they will forge forward and try and find a path to find success down the rest of the regular season, into the Big 12 tournament, and into the NCAA tournament.
"They should have that belief, but as an objective viewer, it brings me no joy to pass along the message that Texas Tech's national championship have gone out the window with this injury," Norlander said.
Moreover, ESPN college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg emphasized the importance of Toppin as the regular season winds down and the NCAA Tournament quickly approaches.
"It's devastating, I mean this guy could have been Big 12 Player of the Year. They have no one to replace him. You can't replace, in February, a JT Toppin," Greenberg said on SportsCenter. "They're limited in their frontcourt as it is.
"Devastated for the team, devastated for this young man. This team has played so well all season long. They've overachieved. They play so hard, they're so connected. Christian Anderson and Toppin are a dynamic two-man game together. You feel for him, you feel for the program."
While Anderson hasn't had his quarterback on the court, the sophomore has certainly stepped up in Tech's last two games.
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Valentina Martinez is an On SI writer. She has in depth knowledge of the college sports community and has covered professional sports extensively. She is a graduate of Arizona State University and covered Sun Devil Football, Men's Basketball, Baseball, Women's Volleyball and Softball.