NASSAU, Bahamas — — JT Toppin scored 21 points to help No. 15 Texas Tech hold off Wake Forest 84-83 Thursday night at the Baha Mar Championship.
Toppin, the reigning Big 12 player of the year, had nine rebounds and four assists for the Red Raiders (4-1). Christian Anderson added 16 points and eight assists for Texas Tech, while Tyeree Bryan scored 13 and Jaylen Petty scored 11.
Juke Harris powered Wake Forest (3-2) with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Myles Colvin scored 19 points.
The Red Raiders opened the game by making their first three 3-point attempts. Wake Forest stuck with defense, however, holding Texas Tech to 2 of 18 from deep for the rest of the first half. After a 10-0 run, capped by a two-handed slam from Marqus Marion, the Demon Deacons trailed by just one point at intermission.
Mekhi Mason then made a 3-pointer to open the second half, giving Wake its first lead of the game and starting a 13-5 run.
Texas Tech fought back and tied the game with 2:08 left on a 3-pointer by Petty. Anderson then sank a mid-range jumper and the Red Raiders connected on 6 of 8 free throws over the final 90 seconds to seal it.
Wake Forest entered the game ranked ninth nationally in 3-point defense, allowing its opponents to make just 23.1 percent of their attempts from behind the arc. But Texas Tech overcame the Demon Deacons’ prowess on the perimeter, knocking down 12 of 35 3-pointers (34.3%). This is the fourth time in five games that the Red Raiders have made at least a dozen shots from behind the arc.
The Demon Deacons haven’t beaten an AP Top 25-ranked opponent away from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, since 2015.
Staying in the Bahamas, Texas Tech will face No. 1 Purdue on Friday night, after Wake Forest faces Memphis in the consolation game.
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