TEXAS TECH
Red Raiders eye another run.
After his team eliminated Utah State on Friday to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said every great tournament game is “a game of runs.”
The sixth-seeded Red Raiders and 11th-seeded Aggies saw their fair share of runs in the first-round matchup. Both teams went on multiple extended scoring runs of at least three straight baskets, with Texas Tech’s 24-4 run over a sixminute stretch in the second half eventually deciding the game.
In its second-round game at 5:10 p.m. Sunday, Beard’s group will face a team that can score buckets in a hurry itself in No. 3 seed Arkansas.
In their first-round matchup with No. 14 Colgate, the Razorbacks fell behind by 14 with less than four minutes left in the first half. Then, thanks to seven Raiders’ turnovers in nine possessions, Arkansas went on a 17-0 run and went to halftime up 36-33 on Colgate.
Following a 17-8 run for the Raiders to go back up six after of the break, the Razorbacks answered with a 29-10 run capped by a J.D. Notae 3-pointer to put the game away.
In round one, Arkansas (23-6) proved it’s a team with enough firepower to give Texas Tech’s stingy defense fits.
“A lot of respect for that program,” Beard said. “I’ve seen them play, as a fan, this year. I know they’ve got a lottery pick. I know they’ve got a couple of other NBA guys. I know they’ve got an NBA coach (Eric Musselman) that’s got a game-planning scheme. And so it’ll be a real challenge for us.”
That “lottery pick” would be Moses Moody, the Razorbacks’ star freshman who most analysts predict to go in the top-10 of the 2021 NBA Draft.
Though Arkansas lost 85 percent of its scoring from a year ago, Moody’s 17.2 points per game leads an offense that still ranks seventh in the NCAA in scoring (82.5 points per game). Behind Moody sit three other double-digit scorers, including Justin Smith, whose 29 points Friday eclipsed his 13.6 season average.
The Razorbacks are also among the hottest teams in the country having lost just once since the calendar flipped to February. That was enough to help them finish the season ranked No. 10 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ Coaches Top-25 polls.
“They’re an outstanding team. They’re worthy of their high seed, they’ve had a great season,” Beard said. “Nothing but respect for coach (Musselman) and those players.”
While it’s the offense that’s carried it this season, Arkansas is no slouch on the defensive side of the ball.
The Razorbacks allow 70.6 points per game, giving them the NCAA’s 19th best scoring margin. KenPom also has Arkansas at No. 10 (89.6) in adjusted defensive efficiency, which measures a team’s points allowed per 100 possessions. Connor Vanover, the Razorbacks’ 7foot-3 big, averages 1.76 blocks a game, the 47th best mark in the country.
Arkansas is a team that can make a deep run in the tournament and one Texas Tech can’t afford to have the same scoring droughts it experienced against the Utah State.
However, the Red Raiders are battle tested after a tough run in the regular season that saw them face eight other NCAA Tournament teams. In Beard’s mind, that schedule plus the grind-it-out win over the Aggies showed his squad can answer the call against the Razorbacks.
“It’ll be a real challenge for us, but we’ve been through a lot of challenges lately,” Beard said. “When you play 18 Big 12 games and you play, in my opinion, one of the most disciplined teams in the tournament in Game 1 (in) Utah State, it’s not gonna be an excuse that we haven’t been challenged.”