Texas Tech thought 6-3 senior guard Chance McMillan might return Thursday night against Arkansas in San Francisco, before a strained muscle in his upper body cost him a fourth consecutive postseason game, but oh well. The Red Raiders dug deep and won.
Texas Tech trailed Arkansas by 16 points midway through the second half at Chase Center, and whatever. The Red Raiders turned that adversity into one of the great moments in program history, an 85-83 overtime victory on the double heroics of 6-6 junior forward Darrion Williams hitting a three with 9.7 seconds remaining in regulation to force the extra period and then driving the right side for the winning basket with 7.3 seconds to play in overtime.
Okay, so Florida on Saturday afternoon in the Elite Eight in Chase Center, with a Final Four berth on the line. Florida, the top-seeded team in the West Regional. Florida, coming off an easy 87-71 victory over fourth-seeded Maryland thanks to a dominating second half, just before Texas Tech needed everything to overcome the No. 10 seed Arkansas. Florida, not just 33-4, but 33-4 and peaking at the right time.
What about it?
This is who Texas Tech is, a group that handles adversity and sticks together, a program that does not have the coaching star power of the previous opponent, John Calipari, or the tradition of several of the remaining dancers, yet does always seems to have a chance. That reminder came Thursday night as the Red Raiders called timeout with little reason for hope in the second half and, 6-2 freshman guard Christian Anderson said, “In the huddle, Coach said we’re going to find a way to win this no matter how much we’re down. I think it was 16 with 10 minutes left or something. As a team we had that look, we’re not losing this game no matter what, no matter if it’s defensive, offensive rebounds, we’ve got to get defensive rebounds, steals. We had to find a way to make it happen. And at the end we did, so that was it.”
Williams as the late star was only fitting, then, because he is also the epitome if Texas Tech 2024-25. That reminder also came Thursday night, when he missed 18 of 26 field goals and eight of 10 three-pointers and still became forever in Lubbock.
The heart of the team, coach Grant McCasland said of the native of Sacramento, 90 miles to the northeast. “He just is a resilient guy. I mean, I can’t even explain it. I put faith in him because I do believe that he’ll find a way in one-game scenarios to do whatever it takes to win. I honestly do. Whatever it takes. it takes. Looking at him, he got so many huge plays that he could have tapped out and been embarrassed playing with all his family here and it wasn’t going good. Like, it’s just not my night. And he just does not think that way.”
The toughness that has become a team-wide trademark will be especially important with a pretty quick turnaround immediately after using only seven players in a long, exhausting Sweet Sixteen that required charging hard the final 15 minutes or so just to stay alive. Two Red Raiders broke 40 minutes, and three others at least 37. Friday was the recovery day, with a practice. Saturday, Florida, along with Duke arguably the two teams playing the best of anyone, awaits as an opponent that is aggressive and deep.
“Ultimately, I think your practice throughout the year is what prepares you for this,” McCasland said. “And you can’t do anything in one day that’s any different that’s going to make that big of an impact…. So I think our ability to get rest is the most important part, and that’s what we’ve done with our team. But, you know, this adrenaline takes over when you play in these games. And there’s enough time in between games, it’s not like conference tournament where you turn around and play in less than 24 hours. I think that’s huge for us. We would prefer more rest. But with our team, there’s enough grit in our locker room to be prepared for the next one. And adrenaline is sure a huge part of it.”
McMillan, second-team All-Big 12 and the most accurate three-point shooter in the conference this season, remains a question mark. The Red Raiders will “give him the opportunity if he wants to compete and see what he can tolerate,” McCasland said. “And hopefully we’ll get him back in some way. But it’s hard to say until we get closer to game time and he warms up and see how he feels.”
