Thus far, the tournament has been devoid of the upsets, drama, and excitement we're used to. There are no Cinderellas and only one double-digit seed in the Sweet Sixteen. Whether that's a product of strong top seeds or super conferences remains to be seen. However, the lone double-digit seed, No. 10 Arkansas, may have the clock strike midnight on Thursday when they face No. 3 Texas Tech in San Francisco.
Arkansas spent most of the last two months of the season on the bubble and whether they were even going to make the tournament. They ended up on the right side of the bubble and ended up as the No. 10 seed in the West region. Their draw wasn’t easy, but it sure was a Hall-of-Fame one. In their first game, they knocked off Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks, leading to a matchup of two former Kentucky coaches when they faced St. John’s and Rick Pitino. They knocked off the No. 2 seed, making the Razorbacks the lowest seed remaining in the tournament.
Grant McCasland’s No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders opened the tournament, getting all they could handle from No. 14 seed UNC-Wilmington, leading by three with seven minutes to play before pulling away for an 82-72 win. Their second game was against one of those potential Cinderellas, No. 11 Drake. They were able to speed Drake up, keep them at arm’s length, and end the run of the Bulldogs 77-64. Texas Tech has already sent one tournament darling home and has an opportunity to send the last one home on Thursday in San Francisco. The Red Raiders can’t take Arkansas lightly and must execute to win. Here are the biggest keys for a Texas Tech trip to the Elite Eight.
1. Texas Tech must keep Arkansas off the offensive glass
The first key for the Red Raiders is to keep Arkansas off the offensive glass. This year, the Hogs haven’t been an extraordinary rebounding team during the year, pulling down eight offensive rebounds per game. Once the tournament started, it was like Arkansas flipped a switch. In their opening-round win over Kansas, they grabbed 12 offensive boards, and in their win over St. John’s, which is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, they were outrebounded on both the offensive and defensive glass but also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds of their own. In their two tournament wins, Texas Tech has grabbed 28 defensive rebounds per game. The Red Raiders must keep a decent shooting Arkansas team off the offensive glass.
2. Try and turn Arkansas into a jump shooting team
The second key to a Texas Tech victory over Arkansas on Thursday night will be their ability to keep Arkansas out of the paint. It will be very important to turn the Razorbacks into a jump-shooting team. They don’t shoot the three-ball well at just 32%, but their two-point shooting percentage is over 54%. In their win over Kansas, Jonas Aidoo and Trevon Brazile combined for 28 of the team’s 65 shots and 33 points. Against St. John's, the big men were less involved, and Arkansas shot just 2-19 from deep. If Texas Tech can get that Arkansas team to show up, it’ll be positive for Red Raider Nation.
3. Attack the Arkansas frontcourt early
The last key to a Texas Tech victory fits with the first of keeping Arkansas off the offensive glass, and that is to attack Jonas Aidoo and Trevon Brazile. The Hogs don’t have a ton of depth in the frontcourt, but they could get a boost there if leading scorer and rebounder Adou Thiero could return from injury. They should use the strength and athleticism of JT Toppin and Darrion Williams, specifically to see if they can get the Arkansas frontcourt in foul trouble because the Razorbacks are 334th in 2-foul participation.