On to the Sweet 16: Arkansas outlasts Texas Tech to advance in NCAA Tournament
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Eric Musselman is taking Arkansas to its first Sweet 16 since 1996. The 3-seed Razorbacks knocked off 6-seed Texas Tech 68-66 in a Round of 32 thriller.
Arkansas led by two points at the break and double-digits at times in the second half but the Red Raiders refused to go away, battling until the final buzzer. A late 9-2 Texas Tech run had it 67-66 Arkansas with under 2 minutes to play. The score remained the same until the 19.3 mark when JD Notae was fouled. Notae made a free-throw to extend the lead to 68-66 and got the final rebound of the game.
Arkansas’ Justin Smith and Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon Jr. led the scoring with 20 points each. Smith shot 9-of-11, adding 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Davonte “Devo” Davis and Moses Moody chipped in 15 points a piece for the Hogs.
With emotions and intensity running high from the get-go, Sunday’s game had the feel of a later-round tournament clash.
While Arkansas was a 3-seed beating a 6-seed, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index slightly favored Texas Tech (52.8 percent chance to win). The Red Raiders were also the Vegas betting favorite by a bucket leading up to tipoff.
It was all tied up at the first-half under-4 media timeout 31-31. For the final 3:26 of the period, Arkansas kept Texas Tech scoreless and notched two points for a 33-31 lead at the break. The Hogs improved their record to 34-2 when leading at the half under Mussleman.
There were four lead changes in the first 20 minutes. Texas Tech led for 10:47 of the half by as many as 10 points.
Smith and Moody got the Razorbacks off to a strong start in the second half, extending the lead to 44-35 at the first media timeout. It was a 10-point Arkansas advantage 50-40 at the under-12 timeout (11:58).
Devo Davis was tagged with a ridiculous technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk that made it 54-42 at 9:28. Texas Tech made the free throw to cut it to 11.
Fire the ref that called this a technical foul @BarstoolUA pic.twitter.com/k2RLYURjOF
— Fundamentally Sound (@FundamentallySD) March 22, 2021
The call did not swing the immediate momentum as Davis got another bucket to make it 56-43 (9:04). The Raiders later went on an 11-0 run that cut it all the way to 58-57 before Moody answered with a three-pointer extending it back to 61-57. It was 63-57 Arkansas at the 3:55 under-4 media timeout.
Arkansas awaits the winner of 7-seed Florida vs. 15-seed Oral Roberts in the Sweet 16.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
