By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The Texas Tech Red Raiders rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit to tie the game in regulation and then defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks 85-83 in overtime Thursday night in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Grant McCasland, shown here coaching North Texas in a game at UTSA in 2022, has led the Texas Tech Red Raiders to within one victory of a trip to the Final Four – File photo by Joe Alexander
With the win, the third-seeded Red Raiders moved into the Elite Eight round of the tournament against the No. 1 Florida Gators in the West Regional.
Tech will play Florida on Saturday in San Francisco, with the winner earning a ticket to the Final Four in San Antonio next week. Florida advanced by beating fifth-seeded Maryland 87-71 earlier in the afternoon.
Freshman Christian Anderson scored 22 points, and Darrion Williams and J.T. Toppin added 20 each for the Red Raiders. Williams, from nearby Sacramento, hit a game-tying three at the end of regulation and then hit the game-winner with about seven seconds left in OT.
Johnell Davis led the Razorbacks with a season-high 30 points.
The 10th-seeded Razorbacks, led by veteran coach John Calipari, played well for about 30 minutes and appeared poised to pull off their third upset of the tournament. When Billy Richmond III hit a driving layup with 10:23 remaining, Arkansas held a 61-45 lead.
From there, the Grant McCasland-coached Red Raiders started to do the little things, getting loose balls and offensive rebounds and grinding their way back into the game. Pretty soon, they generated momentum and started raining three-point shots, and the momentum shifted.
Anderson knocked down three of the long distance shots in a three-minute sequence at the end of regulation, the first coming at the 4:21 mark and the third at 1:07 to make it a three-point game. With nine seconds left, Williams nailed a three from the right wing to tie the score at 72-72.
In the overtime, Williams was fouled with 2:23 remaining and buried two free throws, boosting Tech into a 79-78 lead. The Red Raiders would never trail again. In the final 1:41, Toppin knocked down two baskets, which were answered by buckets from Arkansas’ Trevon Brazile and D.J. Wagner.
Wagner’s layup tied the game 73-73 with 34 seconds remaining. At the end, Williams backed down a defender and hit a shot from close range with seven seconds left for the game winner.
Records
Arkansas 22-14
Texas Tech 28-8
Notable
Texas Tech has reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019, when the program made it to the Final Four and the championship game under former Coach Chris Beard. Last season, in McCasland’s first as coach, the Red Raiders made the tournament but were eliminated in the round of 64.
Quotable
“In the huddle, coach said, ‘We’re going to find a way to win this no matter how much we’re down.’ I think (we were down) 16 with 10 minutes left or something. As a team, we had that look. We’re not losing this game no matter what, no matter if it’s defensive, offensive rebounds. We’ve got to get defensive rebounds, steals. We had to find a way to make it happen. And at the end we did, so that was it.” – Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson