Texas Tech rallies to beat Arkansas 85-83 in OT to advance to Elite Eight
Darrion Williams scored the tiebreaking basket with 7.3 seconds left in overtime after tying the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to lead Texas Tech to an 85-83 win over Arkansas on Thursday night and a spot in the Elite Eight.
SAN FRANCISCO — Darrion Williams scored the tiebreaking basket with 7.3 seconds left in overtime after tying the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to lead Texas Tech to an 85-83 win over Arkansas on Thursday night and a spot in the Elite Eight.
The first overtime game of March Madness came thanks to a furious comeback by the third-seeded Red Raiders (28-8) from 16 points down midway through the second half against coach John Calipari’s 10th-seeded Razorbacks (22-14).
Texas Tech advanced to play top-seeded Florida in the West Region final on Saturday with a chance at the school’s second Final Four trip after losing the title game to Virginia in 2019.
That idea seemed far-fetched for most of this game as Arkansas broke out to a double-digit lead early and was in control most of the way. Johnell Davis’ layup with just under 5 minutes left gave the Razorbacks a 13-point lead.
But the Red Raiders closed regulation with a 16-3 run behind three 3-pointers from Christian Anderson and three baskets from Williams. The biggest came when he rattled in a 3 with 9.7 seconds left after Jonas Aidoo had missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Rating: 5