IN HOG HEAVEN
Arkansas makes first Sweet 16 since 1996
Minutes before tipoff, CBS TV cameras showed Arkansas coach Eric Musselman standing before his players in the locker room and telling them that Sunday’s NCAA Tournament game against Texas Tech was “going to be a street fight.’’ He was right.
Both teams, so physical for 40 minutes, likely got back to their respective hotels bruised, battered and tired.
In the end, it was Musselman’s No. 3-seeded Razorbacks who won the street fight, surviving the No. 6-seeded Red Raiders 68-66 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
So, the Hogs are dancing into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1996, when Nolan Richardson was the Arkansas coach.
“Unbelievable win for our program,’’ Musselman said.
“It shows that we can play with anybody,’’ Arkansas leading scorer Justin Smith (20 points) said. “It doesn’t really matter what you want to throw at us. We are going to be able to adjust and compete.’’
Texas Tech was down by 13 points with 9:04 remaining and rallied to cut the deficit to one point — 67-66 — in the final, frenetic seconds.
After JD Notae made only one of two free throws with 19.3 seconds remaining, the Razorbacks were clinging to a 68-66 lead and Texas Tech had the ball for the final possession.
Texas Tech’s Kyler Edwards drove strongly to the glass for a potential game-tying layup with three seconds remaining with Smith step-forstep with him. Edwards’ attempt with the ball went up too strong and it never went in. Notae rebounded the ball and the Razorbacks celebrated as the clock bled out.
“We really didn’t want them to get a 3, because that would put them up [by one point], so I forced them off the 3-point line and switched on to Edwards and he drove it,’’ Smith said. “I was able to get a good contest and he missed it. JD got a great rebound and that was it. Thank God.’’
Arkansas (24-6) plays the winner of Sunday night’s game between Florida and Oral Roberts in Sweet 16.
Texas Tech got into trouble early in the second half as Arkansas extended its lead to 44-35, its largest of the game at the time, with an 11-3 run to start.
Arkansas pushed the lead to 10 points twice — 48-38 and 50-30 — and then extended it to 56-43 on a Davis three-point play with 9:04 remaining in the game.
Texas Tech, which had missed 15 of its first 18 shots to start the second half, looked down and out. But the Red Raiders rallied, ending the 3 of 15 shooting skid with a 11-0 run that began with a pair of 3-pointers by Edwards, a layup by
McCullar and a 3 from Shannon.
Suddenly, a 13-point Arkansas lead was whittled to 56-54 with 6:20 remaining. Arkansas again looked like it was about to put the game away, going on a 7-0 run that gave it a 65-57 lead. But the Red Raiders again charged back and cut it to 65-63 with 3:06 remaining.
Arkansas trailed by 10 points in the first half — a 23-13 lead — but rallied with a 14-4 run, and it led 33-31 at the half thanks, in part, to Texas Tech missing 16 of its last 19 shots.
The Razorbacks were hoping history would remain on their side, as they entered the game 17-1 this season when leading at the half. It did.