SAN FRANCISCO — Darrion Williams could barely make a shot for the first 30 minutes.
He didn’t miss when it mattered most, sending Texas Tech to an improbable spot in the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division I tournament.
Williams scored the go-ahead basket with 7.3 seconds left in overtime after tying the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation, leading third-seeded Texas Tech to an 85-83 win over 10th-seeded Arkansas in a West Region semifinal Thursday night at the Chase Center, the home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
“The heart of the team is Darrion Williams,” Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland said. “He just is a resilient guy. 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.”
The first overtime game of this year’s tournament came thanks to a furious comeback by the Big 12’s Red Raiders (28-8) from 13 points down with less than five minutes left against coach John Calipari’s Razorbacks (22-14) of the Southeastern Conference.
Texas Tech advanced to play top-seeded Florida, another SEC program, on the same court Saturday with a spot in next weekend’s Final Four in San Antonio on the line. The Red Raiders made their lone trip to the national semifinals in 2019, when they reached the title game but lost to Virginia.
A return to the Final Four seemed far-fetched for most of this game as Arkansas broke out to a double-digit lead early and was in control most of the way, leading by 16 points during the second half.
“In the huddle, Coach said we’re going to find a way to win this no matter how much we’re down,” Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson said. “As a team we had that look — we’re not losing this game no matter what. … We had to find a way to make it happen. And at the end we did, so that was it.”
Williams helped will the Red Raiders down the stretch after opening the game by missing 13 of his 15 shots in front of a large contingent of his friends and family who came from Sacramento for the game.
The Red Raiders closed regulation with a 16-3 run, though, behind three 3-pointers from Anderson and three baskets from Williams. The biggest came when he rattled in a 3 with 9.7 seconds left after Jonas Aidoo had missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the foul line.
Williams had missed eight of his first nine attempts from 3-point range before that make.
“Obviously they weren’t going in, but I was shooting open ones,” Williams said. “They’ll fall.”
JT Toppin then scored to start overtime and give Texas Tech its first lead since the opening minutes, and it went back and forth from there, with D.J. Wagner tying it for Arkansas with 34 seconds left.
Williams then scored down low to give Texas Tech the lead, and Wagner’s last shot hit the front rim, sending the Red Raiders into a wild celebration at midcourt as Williams pointed to the crowd after the third-biggest comeback in Sweet 16 history.
Calipari could only walk off the court with pursed lips and a sigh as his first season at Arkansas ended in heartbreak after he fell just short of being the first coach to take four schools to the Elite Eight. The Razorbacks were the only double-digit seed to reach this year’s Sweet 16.
“We’re all disappointed here,” Calipari said. “But I told them there’s nothing them individually or my team could do to disappoint me because of what they’ve done this year. I’m so proud of them.”
Anderson scored 22 points to lead Texas Tech, while Toppin and Williams added 20 apiece.
Johnell Davis scored 30 points for the Razorbacks, while Karter Knox had 20.
Florida 87, Maryland 71
Florida’s three standout seniors and its deep bench kept bringing energy until it became too tough for Maryland’s “Crab Five” to keep up.
Coach Todd Golden could see his Gators wearing the Terrapins down.
Will Richard scored 15 points, Alijah Martin added 14 with seven rebounds, and No. 1 seed Florida played a steady second half to run away from fourth-seeded Maryland and into the West Region final.
Walter Clayton Jr. contributed 13 points and four assists as Florida’s senior leaders and their deep supporting cast took down Maryland’s hardworking starters — one of Terrapins coach Kevin Willard’s concerns coming into this matchup.
“We come in with great energy,” said Florida reserve Denzel Aberdeen, who scored 12 points in 19 minutes. “Just everybody being ready, whoever’s name is called, I think that’s what we did.”
Golden had described the Terrapins as “freaky talented” coming into the game.
Freshman sensation Derik Queen scored 27 points to lead Maryland (27-9) in what might have been Willard’s final game guiding the program.
“I think their bench really wore us down,” Willard said.
The Gators (33-4), in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and seeking the program’s first Final Four berth since 2014, committed 13 of their 17 turnovers in the first half but took better care of the ball over the final 20 minutes. Florida eliminated Connecticut, the winner of the past two NCAA titles, in the second round last weekend and is 10-1 in regional semifinals.
“The message was simple: We have to take care of the ball,” said Golden, who is in his third season leading the Gators.
The “Crab Five” — featuring WNBA star Angel Reese’s brother Julian, who had his sister in the stands to cheer them on — roared back in the first half when it seemed Florida might pull away. Queen, who hit the buzzer-beating winner in a 72-71 second-round victory Sunday over Colorado State, shot 8-for-17 against Florida and made all 10 of his free throws.
Clayton, Martin and Richard combined for 42 points, and three others scored in double figures for Florida. The senior trio had scored 56 of the Gators’ 77 points in the two-point victory against Connecticut last Sunday. That win sent Golden back to the Bay Area, where he played for Saint Mary’s and coached at the University of San Francisco before taking the Florida job.
Now the Gators and Golden get to extend their stay into the weekend.
“It’s surreal, to be honest. The thing that I keep kind of going back to, selfishly, personally, I just don’t want it to end,” Golden said. “We have a uniquely tight group. … It’s been an amazing run.”
Meanwhile, Willard’s future was unclear as he has been linked to the Villanova job and also publicly expressed concerns last week with the direction of the Terrapins athletic program, calling for “fundamental changes” to help the basketball team. Fans booed the coach as the team departed its hotel earlier in the day.
EAST REGION
Duke 100, Arizona 93
NEWARK, N.J. — Duke stud Cooper Flagg’s highlight reel included a 3-pointer from just in front of the logo at the halftime buzzer, one no-look pass for an alley-oop dunk and another for a 3, plus a huge blocked shot into a row of Arizona cheerleaders.
The freshman sensation needed all that to hold off an onslaught from the Wildcats and Duke’s biggest nemesis, Caleb Love, for a victory that pushed the top-seeded Blue Devils into the East Region final and one win from the Final Four.
Flagg’s final line: 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three blocks. And his biggest college win yet.
“That’s one of the best tournament performances I’ve ever coached or been a part of,” said Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who has seen plenty.
Love, a thorn in Duke’s side for the past five years, finished with 35 points, one short of his career high, including a streak of 15 straight for his fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-13) during a ferocious second-half run that cut a 19-point deficit to five with 1:56 left.
But it’s the top-seeded Blue Devils (34-3) moving on to the Elite Eight to face second-seeded Alabama (28-8) on Saturday in Newark. The Crimson Tide broke the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament’s 35-year-old record for 3-pointers in a game with 25 while beating sixth-seeded BYU 113-88 in Thursday’s first East semifinal.
A win would put Duke in the Final Four for the 18th time. The last time, in 2022, Love played for North Carolina and scored 28 points to bring an end to legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career. Scheyer, a former Duke player and a Blue Devils assistant since 2014, succeeded Coach K.
This time, the 18-year-old Flagg ended Love’s stay in college — and showed why he should be the top pick in the NBA draft if he decides to leave, too.
“What I’ve wanted from him was not to defer,” Scheyer said. “Just wanted him to fully be him. I thought he was in his element tonight. He was loose, talking, competitive, the whole thing.”
Arizona chipped away at its big deficit and got within five when Carter Bryant made a 3-pointer with 1:56 left.
Flagg made three of four free throws — and Duke was 9-for-10 at the line — to salt away the win down the stretch.
“They were a machine on offense,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.
Duke shot 60% from the floor and 57.9% from 3-point range to close out a defense-optional night at the Prudential Center as both winning teams hit triple digits.
Arizona sagged and hung on the 6-foot-9 freshman and made him work for everything, but Flagg was just better than everyone on the court.
It was a show that brought a close to Love’s vibrant college career — one he wasn’t willing to see end without a fight. He missed his first three shots but finished 11-for-21 and made five 3s to keep his team in it.
“He’s had an amazing career, and I’m so excited for his future,” Lloyd said. “He was tremendous today. He’s going to wake up tomorrow, and he’s going to smile. He has a lot to look forward to, and so I’m really, really proud of him.”
Love scored seven more point than he did when he sent Coach K into retirement one win short of the title game three years ago.
In this one, he got the most help from Jaden Bradley, who finished with 15 points, but the Wildcats couldn’t do enough to conjure a repeat of 2011, the last time these programs met in the tournament and Arizona knocked out the top-seeded Blue Devils.