The Texas Tech Red Raiders advanced during March Madness to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament over the weekend. Texas Tech is now the last Texas team from the Big 12 Conference moving ahead after Baylor, Texas, and TCU bowed out in the second round.
Under first-year head coach Mark Adams, Texas Tech (27-9), the three-seed in the West Region, will face second-seeded Duke (30-6) and their retiring 42nd-year head coach Mike Krzyzewski in the regional semifinals on Thursday in San Francisco.
It is the first time since 2019 that the Red Raiders have made it past the second round. In 2019, Texas Tech made it to the national championship game before losing to Virginia.
Texas Tech’s weekend victory also marks the third time the team has reached the Sweet 16 round in the past four tournaments and the fifth time in school history.
Meanwhile, Duke’s legendary coach Krzyzewski holds the record for most Sweet 16 appearances as a coach with 26. Duke reached the round of 16 with a 78-61 win over 15-seed Cal State-Fullerton, and then a hard-earned 85-76 win over seven-seed Michigan State on Sunday.
The Texas Tech versus Duke game winner will face the winner of the other semifinal of the West region between the No.1 overall seed Gonzaga and No.4 seed Arkansas.
Friday night, the Red Raiders opened tournament play with a dominant 97-62 win over No.14 Montana State.
Texas Tech won a tough 59-53 win over 11th-seeded Notre Dame in the second round. Notre Dame held a 52-49 lead with just over two minutes remaining, but the Red Raiders closed the game on a 10-1 run to escape with the win.
The defending champion and one-seed in the East Region, Baylor Bears, had their repeat title hopes dashed in the second round with a 93-86 overtime loss to eight-seed North Carolina in Fort Worth.
On Thursday, Baylor opened tournament play with a commanding 85-49 victory over No.16 Norfolk State. In the second round, however, the Bears needed a miracle run to avoid a blowout loss.
North Carolina had a 25-point lead, 67-42, with just over 10 minutes remaining. Baylor ramped up their defensive pressure and forced North Carolina into ten turnovers in the remainder of regulation. The Bears took advantage of the turnovers to outscore North Carolina 38-13 in the final 10 minutes of regulation, tying the score at 80 and forcing overtime.
However, the Bears ran out of gas in overtime, making only 1-of-11 shot attempts as North Carolina prevailed. Baylor has now lost in the second round twice in the last three NCAA tournaments.
North Carolina will now move to the East Region semifinals to play fourth-seeded UCLA on Friday in Philadelphia.
In the East Region, the six-seed Texas Longhorns fell 81-71 in the second round to three-seed Purdue. Under first-year head coach Chris Beard, Texas got their first tournament win since 2014 when they defeated No.11 Virginia Tech 81-73 in the first round on Friday.
Texas hung tough but was ultimately outmatched in their game against No.3 Purdue on Sunday. Purdue held a 74-71 lead with 1:01 remaining before they ended the game on a 7-0 run.
The game’s close score at the end was a testament to Texas’ heart. Purdue used a 20-0 run to build a 14-point lead, 28-14, and looked poised to run away with the game in the first half. However, the Longhorns battled back to briefly hold the lead with just under 16 minutes remaining.
Purdue had a significant advantage at the free-throw line, making 33-of-46 free throw attempts. In contrast, the Longhorns only earned 12 free throw attempts and made seven.
Next, Purdue will face the miracle team of this year’s tournament, 15-seed Saint Peter’s, in an East Region semifinal on Friday in Philadelphia. Saint Peter’s knocked off the No.2 seed Kentucky in overtime in the first round for the NCAA tournament’s biggest upset so far. They followed that up with a win over No.7 Murray State in the second round.
Nine-seed in the South Region the TCU Horned Frogs were eliminated with an 85-80 overtime loss to one-seed Arizona in the second round. The Horned Frogs earned their first NCAA tournament win since 1987 with a 69-42 rout over eighth-seeded Seton Hall in the first round on Friday. The Horned Frogs were dominant inside, outscoring Seton Hall 40-14 in the paint.
Against the top seed Arizona, TCU made a valiant effort as the underdog but came just short of making its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance.
TCU trailed by eight points with less than eight minutes remaining and had missed 12 straight shot attempts. It seemed as though Arizona would run away with the game. However, the Horned Frogs suddenly caught fire, going on a 12-0 run to go up 69-67 with 3:39 remaining. TCU held Arizona scoreless for a 5:09 stretch before a three-pointer tied it at 70. Arizona outlasted the Horned Frogs in overtime to advance to the Sweet 16, where they will face No.5 Houston in San Antonio on Thursday.
In the other regional semifinal in the South Region, No.2 seed Villanova will face 11-seed Michigan.
The Midwest Region semifinals will see No.1 seed Kansas of the Big 12 face No.4 Providence in Chicago. Kansas is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018.
The other Midwest semifinal matches two double-digit seeds in No.11 Iowa State of the Big 12 against No.10 Miami. Iowa State won just two games last season but has completed one of the biggest turnarounds in all of men’s college basketball history under first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger. They will play in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.
