Texas Tech Sets National Standard With 2 Players Selected to Wooden Award Top 20
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Texas Tech is setting the national standard as the Red Raiders are the only college basketball program in the nation to have two players on the John R. Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 Watch List.
Texas Tech's two representatives for the Wooden Award are guard Christian Anderson and forward JT Toppin.
The list features 20 student-athletes who are frontrunners for the most prestigious honors in college hoops, the Wooden Award All-American Team and the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player.
The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced during the week of the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight.
Anderson, Toppin and the other 18 players on the list are considered strong candidates to win the 2026 John R. Wooden Award Men's Player of the Year. Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant are all former winners of the prestigious accolade.
Last year, the recipient of the award was Duke's Cooper Flagg.
Red Raiders Earn Win Over Colorado Before Facing No. 1 Arizona
Toppin is coming off a stellar performance in Wednesday night's 78-44 victory over Colorado. The forward earned his 15th double-double of the season with 16 points and tied a career-high in boards with 18.
Toppin is now averaging 21.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game this season. Anderson also contributed to Texas Tech's win over Colorado as he scored 14 points and was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
The Red Raiders earned the season sweep over the Buffaloes in front of a home crowd at United Supermarkets Arena. Texas Tech now holds an 8-3 record in conference play.
The squad's defense was elite, forcing a season-high 16 turnovers with 10 steals. Despite Texas Tech's lengthy lead throughout the game, head coach Grant McCasland wasn't nonchalant about the matchup.
"I was on edge," McCasland said Wednesday. "I wanted our guys and everyone in the building to feel it. People can assume you're going to win games, but that's not how this works. There are two teams, they have a scouting report and you play for 40 minutes with a scoreboard. Whoever is the best team for those 40 minutes no matter who you think was going to win before it started, it's all about that time you get. I see our team advancing in the right way and our energy is what it needs to be."
As for what's next for the Red Raiders, the squad will head to Tucson to face No. 1 Arizona Saturday night.
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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.