NEW YORK — Duke came into Madison Square Garden, the famous arena it knows well, undefeated, ranked third nationally and easily the favored team for most of a sellout crowd.

The No. 3 Blue Devils had met every big basketball test this season, winning against Kansas, Florida, Michigan State, Arkansas and Texas. They were favored to add Texas Tech, ranked No. 19, to that list.

But the Red Raiders refused to cooperate. Trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, they rallied behind the shooting of sophomore guard Christian Anderson and some scrappy defense to hand the Blue Devils an 82-81 loss.

With the game knotted at 81, Duke’s Caleb Foster fouled Anderson with 3.4 seconds left and he made one of two. The Blue Devils rebounded his miss on the second and called timeout with 1.6 seconds showing.

Duke’s Cameron Boozer got off a shot from the left wing at the buzzer, but it was off the mark, and the Devils had their first loss.

Boozer had 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but the freshman also missed five of his 14 free throws. Duke closed 17 of 29 at the line, easily the difference in a close game.

Anderson had 27 points for the Red Raiders (9-3) and star forward JT Toppin had a double-double with 19 and 10 rebounds. LeJaun Watts, an energetic 6-6 forward, had 20 points before fouling out.

It was a game with a lot of ebbs and flows. Texas Tech scored the first nine points of the game. Duke recovered and led by 10 at halftime. Duke surged ahead by 17 in the second half, only to have the Raiders shoot and scrap their way back into it.

The game had a tight finish, keeping the crowd on its feet in the final minutes. Anderson’s fifth 3-pointer of the game pulled Tech within 76-74, and Toppin then tied the score 76-76 with 2:19 left.

Toppin’s scrambling baseline fall-away pushed the Raiders ahead 78-77 with 1:33 left, and after a Duke turnover, a 3-point play by Anderson made it a four-point lead.

Duke’s Cayden Boozer answered with a 3 from the corner and the Blue Devils then forced a turnover. Cameron Boozer was fouled, but made just one of two at the line for an 81-81 tie.

Officiating always an X factor

Most coaches agree that adjusting to an officiating crew can be a challenge. Think NCAA Tournament, when new faces often appear in the stripes.

Duke and Texas Tech spent some time doing it Saturday as referees Chance Moore, Chuck Jones and Bert Smith at times had both teams shaking their heads, and had Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and Tech coach Grant McCasland, a fiery type, both seeking some answers.

With 7:46 left in the opening half, Toppin was whistled for his third personal foul after a collision with Ngongba that had both players crashing to the floor. After a review of the play, Toppin’s foul was overturned and Ngongba instead issued a flagrant-1 foul. Talk about a turnabout. Scheyer was not happy with that one.

Moments later, Dame Sarr swished a 3 from the right corner. With Duke fans cheering, Sarr was called for a technical foul.

Maybe Sarr said something, maybe he didn’t. He does speak six languages.

In the second half, Duke’s Maliq Brown was called for goaltending a shot by Jaylen Petty. With the replay being shown, Scheyer was up motioning a challenge to the call.

The challenge was successful. Duke ball.

Watts, not Toppin, was Raiders’ star

There are always games within the game, especially with the matchups.

Cameron Boozer was a 6-foot-9, 250-pound problem for the Raiders, as many expected. What wasn’t expected was it being Tech’s Watts, rather than Toppin, being the hardest for Duke to handle.

Watts, a transfer from Washington State, is listed at 6-6 and 230 pounds and physically challenged anyone the Blue Devils had on him — Cameron Boozer, Maliq Brown, Darren Harris, whoever had him off Duke’s defensive switches.

Watts would back his defender in, back him in, then turn and shoot. And score.

Watts, an emotional type on the floor, did make one big mistake. After the Raiders pulled within 60-51 with a 10-2 spurt, Watts rebounded a Duke miss but lost the ball to Brown under the basket. Brown turned and scored for the and-one as Watts fouled.

Watts fouled out of the game with 11:33 remaining. His stat line: 20 points, six rebounds, three assists.

Another slow start

The Blue Devils’ reasoning for a stumbling start against Lipscomb was being off 10 days during the semester break for exams. Besides, it wasn’t costly in the end as Duke scored 97 points and won by 23.

Then, the Devils were hit in the face early again Saturday.

In the first two-plus minutes of the game at the Garden, Texas Tech had a 9-0 start. Watts hit a couple of inside baskets, Christian Anderson knocked in a 3 and Watts followed with a jumper.

Just like that, Scheyer was up and calling for a timeout.

Nik Khamenia finally jump-started Duke with a corner 3 and added another basket after Cameron Boozer blocked a Watts shot. The Duke defense began to kick and Tech would not hit another 3-pointer in the first half in falling behind 46-36, missing eight of nine.

The Red Raiders entered the game shooting 37.6% on 3’s but were shooting blanks. Donovan Atwell did hit a 3 early in the second half.

Duke took its first lead, 19-18, on a Harris 3 midway through the first half and did not trail again in the game.

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