SAN FRANCISCO — For most of two halves Thursday, Texas Tech guard Darrion Williams kept firing away and kept seeing the basketball clang off the rim.
But with the season on the line, Williams was deadly accurate.
Williams’ driving layup with seven seconds left in overtime lifted the third-seeded Red Raiders to an 85-83 victory over 10th-seeded Arkansas in an NCAA Tournament West Region Sweet 16 contest.
Texas Tech will face top-seeded Florida in the regional final on Saturday.
Before that, Williams nailed a 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the arc with nine seconds left in regulation to force the extra period.
“My coach and my teammates kept telling me I was gonna make them when it counts,” Williams said. “To see that come to fruition in this big moment was pretty cool.”
Williams, who went to school in Sacramento — about 100 miles northeast of San Francisco — said he had 40 to 50 family members and friends in the seats. He did not give them much to cheer about initially. He made just 2 of 12 shots in the first half.
“He’s just a resilient guy,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “I put faith in him, because I believe he will find a way in a one-game scenario to do whatever it takes to win. He could’ve been embarrassed with his family here thinking it was not his night. But that’s just not his way.”
Christian Anderson led Texas Tech (28-8) with 22 points while JT Toppin added 20. Kevin Overton had 12 off the bench.
Johnell Davis had a game-high 30 points for Arkansas (22-14) while Karter Knox scored 20. The Razorbacks let a 61-45 lead evaporate over the final 10:23 of regulation.
“Hard game,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said. “Two teams went at it. Slugfest. But I told the guys: There’s nothing individually or what my team did that could disappoint me.”
The Red Raiders earned the opportunity to play for a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 2019, when they reached the national championship game. Florida will be seeking its first trip to the Final Four since 2014.
“The biggest thing for me in watching them play is), man, can they score,” McCasland said of the Gators. “They have a plan that they execute as well as anyone in the country.”
Arkansas had grabbed a 72-66 lead after Knox picked up a loose ball and canned a corner 3-pointer. But Texas Tech outscored the Razorbacks 19-11 the rest of the way.
A 15-6 run by the Razorbacks gave them a 59-43 lead and included a flurry that featured a Jonas Aidoo dunk and a thunderous dunk by Trevon Brazile that turned into a three-point play when he was fouled and made the free throw.
Texas Tech refused to concede, however. The Red Raiders scored 23 of the next 33 points over the next nine minutes to pull within 69-66 with 1:55 left.
The loss sent the Razorbacks home, but their heads weren’t down as they contemplated their final destination after they took five straight losses to begin the Southeastern Conference schedule.
“It shows are chemistry, how much of a brotherhood we are,” Knox said. “We went from 0-5 to the Sweet 16.”
–Field Level Media
