At the end of a deflating 85-83 overtime loss to Texas Tech in Thursday night’s West regional semifinals, John Calipari displayed little emotion as he walked toward the opposing bench with his hand outstretched.
“Good win,” he told Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland.
It was undeniably a spirited comeback by Texas Tech. It was also undeniably an inexcusable collapse from Arkansas.
For 35-plus minutes, the 10th-seeded Razorbacks were in control. For 35-plus minutes, they looked like the top-three seed. Texas Tech struggled to generate clean looks at the rim driving into a thicket of long, athletic interior defenders, nor could the Red Raiders consistently knock down perimeter jumpers.