Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson will be available for the NCAA Tournament, the program announced Saturday. He suffered an injury at the Big 12 Tournament.

Anderson injured his groin during the conference tournament after slipping on the LED glass court in Kansas City. He sits second on the Texas Tech roster with 18.9 points per game while leading the Red Raiders with 7.6 steals on average.

Anderson was a key contributor for Texas Tech as a true freshman in 2024-25, largely coming off the bench. Across 35 games, including seven starts, he averaged 10.6 points to go with 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

In the Big 12 tournament quarterfinal, Anderson slipped on an inbound play and did not return after suffering the injury. He met with reporters afterward and confirmed he slipped on the court during the game. The Big 12 later announced its plans to switch to a hardwood court for the remainder of the tournament.

“I’m feeling good,” Anderson said in the press conference. “Obviously the floor is a bit slippery, so I think I just kind of mis-stepped or did a movement that caused me to slip and kind of ended up in a little unnatural position. Yeah, that’s what it was.”

At the time of his departure from Thursday’s game, Anderson had 10 points, three assists and two steals across 31 minutes of action. Texas Tech went on to fall to Iowa State, 75-53.

Christian Anderson’s return is crucial for Texas Tech heading into March Madness. The Red Raiders already lost leading scorer JT Toppin to a torn ACL, and they would have also been down their point guard if Anderson was not able to go. However, they got good news ahead of Selection Sunday as the program awaits its fate in the bracket.

Texas Tech entered Saturday as a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to On3’s James Fletcher III’s latest Bracketology. The Red Raiders head into the Big Dance with a 22-10 overall record and sit at No. 18 in the NET rankings as of Saturday night. Their record includes 12 victories over Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 opponents, including seven wins against Quad 1 competition.

Texas Tech and the rest of the NCAA Tournament hopefuls will find out what’s next during Sunday’s selection show. That is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. ET on CBS.