Sports. They can provide us with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Unfortunately, Saturday night, it was the latter for Texas Tech basketball fans.
In a brutal 84-79 loss to Florida in the Elite Eight, the Red Raiders held a 10-point lead with 5:24 to play but allowed the Gators to close the game on a 23-8 run to storm to the Final Four. And while the Gators used the 3-point shot to overtake Tech (they made their last four shots from beyond the arc as they mounted their comeback), Tech couldn't execute the most simple of tasks, making free throws.
In fact, the free-throw line is where this game was lost. Overall, Florida was superb in that aspect of the game, going 25-27 (92.6%) as a team.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders were just 7-13 (53.3%) for the entire game. So not only was Tech unable to get to the line enough, but when opportunities did arise to head to the line, they were wasted.
Making it even more painful was the fact that the misses came from the two best players on the roster, JT Toppin and Darrion Williams.
Though Toppin ended the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds, he left some meat on the bone at the line. He ended the night 0-5 from the line, which was just a brutal way for his brilliant season to end.
Meanwhile, Williams was also excellent in every aspect of the game except at the line. He scored a team-high 23 points and collected five rebounds while coming up with three steals, but he couldn't come through at the line when the game was in the balance.
With 2:43 to play and Tech clinging to a 75-69 advantage, Williams went to the line for a one-and-one opportunity to stop the bleeding. However, the 84.1% free-throw shooter would clang the first attempt, resulting in an empty trip. On the ensuing Florida possession, a Gator 3-pointer would cut Tech's lead to 75-72.
The next time Tech got the ball, Florida intentionally fouled Toppin, knowing that he had been a liability at the line all game long. That strategy paid off as Toppin missed the front end of a one-and-one just as Williams did moments before. Then, Florida went right down the court and drained another 3 to tie the game.
Tech still had a chance to pull it out, but couldn't make the plays down the stretch. After a Williams layup put the Red Raiders up 77-75, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. drained his third 3-pointer of the second half to put his team up for good. The Gators' star was brilliant down the stretch, finishing with 30 points to carry his team to the win.
Meanwhile, Tech didn't have anyone capable of answering. In crunch time, Williams missed two 3s, one that would have put Tech up two points and one that would have tied the game.
As the Red Raiders were missing clutch 3s with the game on the line, Florida kept hitting free throws to extend the lead. The Gators went 6-6 at the line to ice the game in the final two minutes.
What is frustrating for Tech is that the Red Raiders were the better and tougher team in many aspects of the game. Tech had a 14-11 edge in offensive rebounds, got to more 50/50 balls, and had the game in hand with under five minutes to play.
All season, this team has used its toughness and determination to overcome the odds, and it looked for most of the game as if that would again carry the Red Raiders to a monumental win. However, the free-throw line proved to be the Red Raiders' undoing, and that reality is going to haunt this program all offseason.