The Texas Tech basketball team has made its way to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, something that the majority of programs around the country consider the mark of a successful season. However, the Red Raiders have higher aspirations.
To keep those dreams alive, though, Tech will have to go through a tough Arkansas team tonight in San Francisco.
The Razorbacks, the No. 10 seed in the West Region and the lowest-seeded team remaining in the NCAA Tournament, are a dangerous team. They have a record of 22-13 and have won five of their last six games. Four of those five wins have come against NCAA Tournament teams.
Also this year, the Hogs have beaten tournament teams Michigan, Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, and Missouri. Therefore, this is a team that has been heavily tested by virtue of playing in the SEC. That's a stark difference from the two mid-major teams that the Red Raiders beat in the first two rounds of the tournament.
Arkansas is led in scoring by two players who have missed significant time this year. 6-foot-8 junior forward Adou Thiero averages 15.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. However, he has been out since February 22nd with a knee injury. Tonight, he is a game-time decision, and head coach John Calipari has hinted that Thiero might be able to give his team a handful of minutes against Texas Tech.
Meanwhile, freshman guard Boogie Fland is the team's second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game. What's more, he averages 5.4 assists per game. He suffered a hand injury in mid-January and didn't return until the NCAA Tournament. Since coming back, he's averaged 22 minutes per game, scoring six points in each round.
The other Razorbacks averaging over ten points per game are senior guard Johnell Davis (11.4 p.p.g.) and sophomore guard D.J. Wagner (11.1 p.p.g.). As a team, the Razorbacks average 76.6 p.p.g., which is 98th in the nation.
On defense, Arkansas gives up an average of 71.0 p.p.g., which is 146th nationally. However, in the KenPom.com defensive efficiency rating, Arkansas ranks 17th in the country by giving up an average of 95.1 points per 100 possessions.
This will be the sixth time Tech has reached the Sweet 16 since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1984. If the Red Raiders can advance, it will be just the third time the program has made it to a regional final, with the other two being in 2018 and 2019.
So let's go inside this matchup and look at all the information fans will need as we prepare for the biggest game of the season to date.
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas broadcast information
Matchup: No. 3 Texas Tech (27-8) vs. No. 10 Arkansas (22-13)
Location: San Francisco, California
Venue: Chase Center
Tip: 9:09 p.m. (CDT), Thursday, March 27
TV: TBS or truTV
TV CALL: Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy, Lauren Shehadi
Westwood Radio: Ryan Radtke, P.J. Carlesimo
TEXAS TECH SPORTS NETWORK: Geoff Haxton (play-by-play), Chris Level (analyst)
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas series history
The all-time series is tied 40-40 between the former Southwest Conference rivals who played for the first time in 1942. Tech and Arkansas have met once in the NCAA Tournament, with the Razorbacks earning a 68-66 win in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Second Round at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel.com.
Favorite | Moneyline | Over/Under |
|---|---|---|
Texas Tech -5.5 | Arkansas +190 | 147.5 |
Texas Tech vs. Arkansas game notes
Game notes courtesy of TexasTech.com.
- Grant McCasland has led the Red Raiders to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons and is in the national tournament for the third time in his career as a head coach. His 50-19 record at Tech is the best start for a head coach in program history.
- Texas Tech is making its seventh trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in program history after
advancing with a 77-64 win over No. 11 Drake on Saturday in the Second Round after an 82-72 First Round victory over UNC Wilmington in Wichita, Kansas.
- The Red Raiders have 34 assists and only 12 turnovers through two games in the tournament.
- In the win over Drake, Darrion Williams scored a season-high 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting, JT Toppin recorded his 17th double-double of the season with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Toppin and Williams are the first two Red Raiders to score 25-plus in the same NCAA Tournament game.
- Kerwin Walton led Tech in its first-round win, scoring a career-high 27 points after going 8-for-19 on 3-pointers. Walton’s eight 3-pointers against UNCW established a new program record in the NCAA Tournament, and the team set a new program tournament record with 13 made 3-pointers and an overall program record with 46 3-point attempts.