A Sweet 16 comeback for the ages

Good morning! About the only person who might not have been happy with Thursday’s games would be those who wanted some defense.

Otherwise, all four games had a little bit of everything.

1. ‘We're going to find a way to win this’

If you turned off Thursday’s late game because Arkansas was in control vs. Texas Tech, well, prepare yourself.

Texas Tech trailed 61-45 with 10:10 remaining, but pulled off an 85-83 overtime win vs. 10-seed Arkansas for the second-largest Sweet 16 comeback in NCAA Tournament history.

A series of hustle plays from guys like Federiko Federiko, and some solid defense kept the game within reach, but the Razorbacks led by 13 points with less than five minutes to play. Then a flurry of 3-pointers from Christian Anderson and Darrion Williams gave them a chance to force OT, which Williams did.

Overtime was back-and-forth as Arkansas got a Trevon Brazille 3-pointer to tie it, then they traded baskets until Williams’ layup with 7 seconds clinched it for Texas Tech (28-8). The Red Raiders are in their first Elite Eight since reaching the national title game in 2019.

"In the huddle, Coach kept saying, 'We're going to find a way to win this,'" Anderson said. "No matter how much we're down, I think it was like 16 [points] with 10 minutes left or something. As a team we kind of had that look, like, 'We're not losing this game no matter what.' No matter if it's defensive, offensive rebounds -- we got to get defensive rebounds, steals. I know we had to find a way to make it happen, and at the end we did."

Anderson, Williams, and JT Toppin all had 20+ points for Texas Tech. Afterward, coach Grant McCasland reveled in the win.

It was a rough end for Arkansas (22-14) and its end-of-season resurgence.

After starting 0-5 in SEC play, they earned an at-large tourney bid and pulled off upset wins over Kansas and St. John’s for a spot in the Sweet 16. Johnell Davis looked like he’d another Elite Eight (a game-high 30 points), but the final nine minutes of the game included some rough offensive and defensive execution, including allowing 22 offensive rebounds.

Still coach John Calipari viewed this as a “rewarding” year for himself. And he should be just fine next season with top-15 incoming 5-star prospects Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas.

2. Duke, Alabama, Florida roll into the Elite Eight

Not every game had the drama of Texas Tech-Arkansas. But all three had their moments — and Caleb Love did his best for another March moment vs. Duke.

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