Texas Tech is headed in the right direction in the Associated Press Top 25 poll following an 82-81 upset of Duke on Saturday.

The Red Raiders, who had fallen three spots to No. 19 in the previous poll, are up to 15th. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, went from third to sixth after tasting defeat for the first time this season.

St. John’s had high hopes coming into the year and was ranked fifth in the preseason. The Red Storm are now out of the Top 25 entirely after a 78-66 loss to Kentucky dropped them to 7-4.

12. North Carolina (11-1)

Duke led by as many as 17 points early into the second half. A 12-0 start looked like a fait accompli for Jon Scheyer’s squad. Instead, Texas Tech mounted a furious comeback.

Junior forward JT Toppin eventually tied it up at 76-76 with 2:20 on the clock and then put the Red Raiders ahead with a turnaround jumper. The Blue Devils had a chance to jump back ahead inside the final 20 seconds, but star freshman Cameron Boozer only made one of his two free throws.

A foul on Duke junior Caleb Foster put Christian Anderson at the charity stripe with 3.4 seconds remaining. The Red Raiders guard sank his first attempt, and that was enough to put Texas Tech over the top.

Anderson led all scorers with 27 points, while Toppin had a double-double (19 points and 10 rebounds). Boozer had a big game as well, finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals and one block, but his late miss at the line proved costly.

Scheyer didn’t want to dwell too much on the outcome when Duke has notched some big wins already.

“But look, for me, I think you have to look at these 12 games we’ve played. It’s been a heck of a schedule,” he told reporters after the game. “Our guys have battled like crazy. We’ve made tough plays down the stretch. Tonight, they made one more play than us. You put yourself in a position, you wish that they could hit a shot on you. Not just hit a free throw. And that was disappointing overall. Proud of our team with what we’ve done through 12 games.”

Purdue fans got to celebrate a transitive win over Duke — the Boilermakers beat Texas Tech by 30 in November — along with a dominant 88-60 victory over Auburn on Saturday.

The Tigers shot just 36.2 percent from the field, including 7-of-25 on three-pointers, star guard Tahaad Pettiford was held to five points.

First-year head coach Steven Pearl is probably wishing the school wouldn’t have lined up such a difficult non-conference schedule. On the evidence of games against Houston, Michigan, St. John’s, Arizona and Purdue, this isn’t a roster that will take Auburn back to the Final Four.

Purdue, on the other hand, continues to put that blowout loss to Iowa State further in the rearview mirror.

The Boilermakers had five players score in double figures on Saturday: Trey Kaufman-Renn, C.J. Cox, Braden Smith, Jack Benter and Gicarri Harris. Smith’s 14 assists were also one more than Auburn had as a team.

Thanks to the holidays, the college basketball schedule is light for the coming week.

Missouri has an opportunity to make a statement on Monday night when it renews its rivalry with Illinois. Hosting Harvard at Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday should at least put St. John’s back in the win column.

Gonzaga (Pepperdine) and Texas Tech (Winthrop) are in action against unranked foes on Sunday.