Sometimes, it is unwise to put too much on a true freshman's shoulders. But sometimes, special true freshmen rise to the occasion. That's exactly what Christian Anderson did Thursday night in the Texas Tech basketball team's 85-83 overtime victory over Arkansas in the Sweet 16.
In the best and most important NCAA Tournament performance of his young college career, Anderson led the Red Raiders in scoring with 22 points while grabbing four rebounds and handing out three assists. Additionally, he played 44 minutes and didn't commit a single turnover.
It was encouraging to see Anderson come alive after he struggled in the first weekend of the tournament. Against UNC Wilmington in the first round, Anderson scored only seven points on 2-9 shooting. Then, in the second round win over Drake, he was again only 2-9 from the floor on his way to just five points.
What's more, in the first two games of the tournament, he was a combined 2-14 from 3-point range. That was shocking given that he shot over 40% from deep in the regular season.
The good news, though, is that Anderson came alive Thursday night at just the right time. In fact, he helped save the Red Raiders from elimination by sparking their massive second-half comeback.
Texas Tech comeback began when Christian Anderson found his scoring touch
On a night when the Red Raiders were without their top offensive guard, Chance McMillian, and saw another starting guard, Kerwin Walton, go without a point for the second game in a row, someone needed to step up. That someone was Anderson.
In the first half, though, Anderson was cold (just like the rest of Texas Tech's guards, not named Kevin Overton). At halftime, when Tech trailed 38-31, he was just 1-3 from the floor and 0-2 from three-point range. He had only five points at that time.
What's more, in the first portion of the second half, he struggled. In the first nine-plus minutes of the second, he was just 1-2 from the floor for two points.
However, something changed when Tech stopped playing Anderson off the ball and started initiating pick-and-roll actions with him at the top of the key. At that point, he started to get into the lane where he found the touch on his jumper.
At 10:35 of the second half, he made a jumper to make the score 59-45 in favor of Arkansas. Still, the game was slow to come to him as he would miss his next three shots, two of which were 3s.
But at 6:26, he hit a pair of free throws to put Tech down 63-56. Then, with 4:21 to go, he drained a 3 to bring Tech to within ten points at 69-59.
Next, at 2:06 to play, he hit another 3 to bring the Red Raiders to within three points at 69-66. However, Arkansas would quickly answer with a 3 of their own to restore their six-point lead with 1:28 to go.
Anderson wasn't done, though. On the ensuing possession, he knocked down another shot from beyond the arc to once again cut the deficit to three points. That ultimately put Tech in position to get a stop and then tie the game on Darrion Williams' late 3-pointer.
In overtime, Anderson was held without a point or a field-goal attempt. That was likely due to a change in how Arkansas decided to guard him after his scorching finish to regulation.
Still, Anderson was crucial in helping his team win because he essentially drugged the Red Raiders back into the fight by taking over on offense in the final ten minutes. It was the first time since he had 19 points against Arizona in the Big 12 semifinals that he looked like the player that we've come to expect him to be more often than not.
Now, the question is whether or not Anderson can stay locked in against Florida, because the Red Raiders will likely need plenty of offense to upset the No. 1-seeded Gators in the Elite Eight. Hopefully, what we saw to close out Thursday's game was an indication that Anderson has found his stride just in the nick of time.