Red Raiders survive ferocious comeback, earn road Big 12 win at Colorado

Buffaloes comeback attempt falls short, Atwell leads way with another stellar performance

Texas Tech Red Raiders forward Donovan Atwell (12) shoots the ball over Colorado Buffaloes guard Barrington Hargress (24) during the first half at the CU Events Center. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders escaped a road upset bid at Colorado Saturday evening, surviving with a 73-71 victory against the Buffaloes.

The Red Raiders took a 16-point lead into halftime but had to hold on in a second-half rally by Colorado to hold on and win Saturday at the CU Events Center. Tech saw its halftime lead swell to by as much as 24 points in the second half and saw a last second three point attempt by Colorado rim out and improve to 2-1 in a competitive Big 12.

After a shaky start coming over from UNC-Greensboro, Donovan Atwell led Tech with 17 points, making five 3-pointers, including his fourth to stop a 9-0 second half run and another to put Red Raiders up 69-58. Atwell has scored in double-figures in each of his previous four games.

The Buffaloes closed the lead to two points with a Sebastian Rancik three-pointer with only 42.3 seconds remaining and made two defensive stops to set up their chance to win it at the buzzer. 

Junior forward JT Toppin recorded his fifth straight double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds while LeJuan Watts notched his second with 11 points and 11 rebounds along while adding six assists.

Star guard Christian Anderson added 15 points, three assists and three steals. The quartet of Toppin, Watts, Atwell and Jaylen Petty each finished the game with four fouls.

“We had such a great start," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said postgame. "For as dynamic as a start as we had, we had that catastrophic of a finish. And honestly what it tells me is our lack of leadership, and our lack of just experience and composure with those guys being in real games where you’re on the road."

The Red Raiders finished the game making 11-of-31 on its three-point attempts with Atwell leading the way with five, Anderson and Petty each made two apiece.

The Buffaloes made just six three point attempts on the night but fought their way back into it by making 19-of-22 of its free throw attempts while Tech struggled mightily at the stripe, going 4-of-10.

The Red Raiders owned the rebounding margin 46-36, which includes 16 offensive boards to only seven by Colorado.

Toppin's double-double streak, which started with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Duke, takes him to 10 this season and to 41 in his career while Watts recorded his second of the season and 12th of his career. Toppin had seven offensive rebounds in the game to match CU as a team while also adding four assists. Atwell now has five games this season with five or more 3-pointers and 19 in his career.

Texas Tech returns to Lubbock for a two-game homestand, starting against Utah at 8 p.m. on Wednesday before playing No. 9 BYU on Saturday, January 17 at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders come into the homestand with an 8-0 home record.

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