Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson Wins Prestigious Awards Ahead of Big 12 Tournament

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Texas Tech star guard Christian Anderson has made a name for himself this season. From the start, Anderson has gotten better and better, and he's getting recognized for it.
The star sophomore guard has earned two prestigious awards and recognitions for the 2025-26 season. Anderson was named the Most Improved Player in the Big 12 and was honored by being named to the All-Big 12 first team.
2025-26 #Big12MBB Most Improved Player ⭐️
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 9, 2026
Christian Anderson | @TexasTechMBB pic.twitter.com/G9JyH9FZMh
All-Big 12 First-Team 👇
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 9, 2026
🏀 Jaden Bradley
🏀 Brayden Burries
🏀 Motiejus Krivas
🏀 AJ Dybantsa
🏀 Emanuel Sharp
🏀 Kingston Flemings
🏀 Joshua Jefferson
🏀 Flory Bidunga
🏀 Christian Anderson
🏀 JT Toppin pic.twitter.com/f9QibEI0fS
The Georgia native joins fellow star forward JT Toppin on the All-Big 12 first team. The first team consists of Arizona's Jaden Bradley, Arizona's Brayden Burries, Arizona's Motiejus Krivas, BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Houston's Emanuel Sharp, Houston's Kingston Flemings, Iowa State's Joshua Jefferson and Kansas' Flory Bidunga.
Toppin has been incredible all season long, as he and Anderson have been the focal point of the team. However, that is no longer the case as Toppin is out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. He suffered the injury last month in a loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Anderson is now the leader and best player for the Red Raiders.
The league's head coaches voted on Anderson, and rightfully so.
Anderson has been impressive all season long, and his numbers show that. On Saturday, he recorded the new Texas Tech single-season record for assists with 233. On top of that, the sophomore has averaged 19.3 points per game, 7.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from beyond the arc in 30 games and 38.6 minutes of action.
His 7.8 assists per game lead the conference and rank third in the nation in that category and fifth in scoring in the Big 12. Anderson has been named a Big 12 Player of the Week three times this season. On top of that, the 19-year-old was also named to the Wooden Award Ballot and is on the Naismith National Player of the Year Late-Season Watchlist.
Anderson has recorded eight double-doubles this season and has scored 20-plus points in 12 games. He scored a career-high with 34 points in the season opener against Lindenwood and went off for 31 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a win over Cincinnati.
He leads Texas Tech with 28 double-figure scoring performances, including his stellar game in the regular season finale against BYU. In that contest, Anderson recorded 23 points with six 3-pointers.
Anderson could score from anywhere on the field. This season, the sophomore made 103 3-pointers, breaking the previous Texas Tech single-season record and is currently only behind teammate Donovan Atwell, who has made 121 this season.
Last season, Anderson made the All-Big 12 Freshman Team. In that season, he recorded 10.6 points, made 71 3-pointers and had 77 assists as a freshman. This season, Anderson nearly doubled all his numbers, which earned him Most Improved Player.
Anderson is set to be a mid to late-round draft pick in this year's NBA Draft if he decides to take that next step. First, he'll look to lead the Red Raiders to a deep postseason run.
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Ricardo Sandoval is a Sports Writer for On SI based in Los Angeles, CA. Ricardo has been writing about a wide range of sports and was also an Associate Editor for Dodgers Nation. Ricardo was also a Contributing Sports Writer for Newsweek's Sports Section specializing in NBA, NFL and College coverage. He is a contributor for Texas Tech On SI.