At the end of Texas Tech’s 85-83 overtime loss in the Western Region semi-finals on Thursday night, John Calipari showed little emotion as he reached out and walked towards his opponent’s bench.
“A good win,” he told Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland.
It was definitely a lively comeback by Texas Tech. It was also an unforgivable collapse from Arkansas.
For over 35 minutes, the 10th seeded Razorback was under control. Over 35 minutes they looked like the top three species. Texas Tech struggled to produce a clean look for the rims that rushed into the bushes of long athletic interior defenders, and the Red Raiders were unable to consistently beat the surrounding jumpers either. Arkansas leads by 13 points, under 4.5 minutes. The Razorback looked headed towards the unlikely Elite Eight.
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Looking back at what Arkansas has gone wrong since then, it’s not just one person responsible. The pack of difficult shots, suspicious decisions and mental mistakes were preparing to play Florida at the differences between Razorbacks returning home on Friday, and the final four crises.
Arkansas manager John Calipari was able to put Razorback in prime position and move on to the Elite Eight. Then it all fell apart. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Ezra Show via Getty Images)
The Texas Tech comeback began harmlessly with the three-pointer of Christian Anderson, the Red Raiders’ best three-pointer shooter. Jonas Aidoo gave Anderson too much space with his ball-screen defense, but then Anderson was ice-cold from behind the arc before it.
Arkansas’ mistakes that followed were even worse. There was an inadvertent turnover from Billy Richmond, which led to the Texas technology basket. There was a wise quick three-point attempt after an offensive rebound by DJ Wagner, a 30.5% shooter from behind the ARC. And Jonell Davis was able to fall asleep for a moment after securing a defensive rebound with Arkansas at 6am and 1:15, earning partnership and ownership where the Red Raiders had to foul.
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Everything peaked at Texas Tech and had the opportunity to tie the game together with a 3-pointer in final regulatory possession. At first it seemed Anderson had found a matchup he liked against Davis, but he refused the stepback 3 pointer and found Darrion Williams behind the right wing arc. Williams missed eight of the first nine three-pointers, but this time he gave Calterknox too much space for him, tying the game with 72 in 9.7 seconds.
“The 9-1 kids made it and it was contested,” Calipari said. “I mean, sometimes that kind of thing happens in these games.”
Calipari has already faced criticism for not fouling the three of them in that situation. That’s crazy. It took too long. If you foul up three times in the remaining 10 seconds or more, you risk losing your game due to restrictions.
If Calipari’s decisions deserve more scrutiny, then what happened next. Two times Calipari gave Wagner the opportunity to save Arkansas. Once the score was tied to the end of the regulations, and the second score was tied to the final seconds of overtime.
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For the first time, Wagner went downhill, but Elijah Hawkins was protecting the island.
“He made a hard bump for the DJ and he stripped the balance with his shot,” Calipari claimed.
Second time, Wagner went to Hawkins again, but he managed only the highly contested stepback jumpers.
Calipari could have called a timeout in seconds if it was revealed that Wagner had no clear pass to the rim. He defended not to do that. Because it allowed Texas Tech to set up that defense, but admitted, “Now that’s finished, so yeah, I wanted to call timeout.”
It was Calipari’s decision, and perhaps most speculated, that the ball was both in Wagner’s hands. After all, it was Davis who scored a season-high 30 points on Thursday, consistently showing his ability to consistently reach basketball and draw fouls.
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The final four or more minutes of Thursday’s game will leave a bitter aftertaste, but Calipari deserves a lot of credit for getting Arkansas so far. The Razorbacks season appeared to be spiraling when they dropped their first five seconds of game to roll out of NCAA Tournament predictions.
Calipari has done well throughout his career, so he managed to instill beliefs in the face of adversity and keeps Arkansas working as a team. Davis was healthier and provided the aggressive firepower that Razorback needed. Aidoo bought some play time and provided another RIM protector. Calipari not only won a bid for the NCAA Tournament, but also contributed his roster up and down as he defeated Kansas and St. John’s to advance to the Sweet 16.
For several days, America enjoyed the concept of Arkansas as Cinderella.
Slippers fit. And it didn’t.
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Joyride ended abruptly, leaving Calipari with mixed emotions.
“I told them how proud I am of them and there’s nothing they can do to disappoint me,” Calipari said. “Yeah, I wish they were doing something different, but these kids gave it everything.”
