How sweet it is: Arkansas moves on to NCAA Tournament's third round

University of Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman was munching on pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and jalapeno peppers Sunday night after his basketball team played Texas Tech.

The pizza probably tasted as sweet to Musselman as ice cream with chocolate sauce and sprinkles.

The Razorbacks are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 25 years after beating the Red Raiders 68-66 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Arkansas (24-6) advanced to play Oral Roberts — which beat Florida 81-78 on Sunday — in the South Region semifinals.

It will be the first Sweet 16 game for the Razorbacks since 1996 but second for Musselman in the last three NCAA Tournaments that have been held. He led Nevada to the Sweet 16 in 2018.

“Words can’t describe it,” said Musselman, who after the game jumped on the scorer’s table to celebrate socially distanced from family members and Arkansas fans. “We’re so excited.

“It’s hard to make the tournament. It’s hard to win a game. It’s hard to win two games.

“We’re going to enjoy it tonight and then get right back at it tomorrow morning. I’ll probably get back at it tonight.”

Arkansas hung on to win when Texas Tech guard Kyler Edwards missed a driving attempt with two seconds left as he was closely guarded by Justin Smith, who made a defensive switch with teammate Jalen Tate.

JD Notae secured the rebound for the Razorbacks and set off a wild celebration.

“I really forced [Edwards] off the three-point line, and he drove it, and I was able to get a good contest, and he missed it,” said Smith, who had 20 points and six rebounds. “JD got a great rebound, and that was it. Thank God.”

The Razorbacks’ defensively were able to force Terrence Shannon, who led Texas Tech with 20 points, to give up the ball on the final possession.

We’ve always tried to put the game in players’ hands,” Red Raiders Coach Chris Beard said. “Those are situations that we practice. We call them chaos.

“We’re going to try to take the two in those situations and get the inside-out three. I thought he got a good clean look at it. He made the right play.”

Musselman said the Razorbacks were determined not to give Texas Tech a shot from beyond the arc.

“We did not want to give up a three under any circumstances,” Musselman said. “We just wanted them to shoot over an extended hand, keep the ball in front of us, and keep them off the three-point line.

“I felt like we could go toe-to-toe in overtime, but we did not want a last-second three to finish us off.”

Arkansas overcame a 23-13 deficit to take a 33-31 halftime lead and move ahead 56-43 on freshman guard Davonte Davis’ driving basket.

But Texas Tech wasn’t done.

The Raiders pulled within 67-66 on two free throws by Shannon with 1:56 left.

Arkansas stayed ahead by a point when Mac McClung missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity with 1:15 left.

After Notae missed a three-point attempt, Shannon missed a layup with 34 seconds remaining. Notae was fouled with 19.3 seconds left and hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 68-66.

The Razorbacks then made one final defensive stop.

“We’ve all played basketball a long, long time and we’ve all been in situations like that,” Smith, a senior graduate transfer said of closing out the victory in a tight game. “Especially this season, whether we’re up and a team is coming back or we’re down and we’re making the run.

“We know that the game is never over and we have to keep playing. … We understand [a late run by an opponent] is a possibility, and we have to be able to respond and not panic.

“That just shows the kind of savvy and level-headedness we have as a team to be able to deal with these runs that some teams may fold under.”

Razorbacks freshman guard Moses Moody and Davis each had 15 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Jalen Tate scored 10 points and hit 6 of 6 free throws, including 4 of 4 in the final 4:36.

Freshman forward Jaylin Williams, making just his third start, had 10 rebounds and 4 assists with 1 point. Notae, a junior guard, scored nine points off the bench.

Kevin McCullars scored 15 points for Texas Tech (18-11) and Edwards added 11.

“We’ve got great chemistry,” Musselman said. “That’s why we’re winning.”

Smith is playing in his first NCAA Tournament after transferring from Indiana.

“This is why I came here,” Smith said. “I came here to win and that’s it.

“To have it come true, to have it come to fruition, it’s just a testament to all the hard work we’ve put in over these nine months. It’s a lot of sacrifices and it’s all worth it so far. We’re just going to keep on going and see how far we can go.”

None of Arkansas’ current players were alive the last time the Razorbacks made the Sweet 16.

“I know a lot of people don’t get this opportunity, so it feels amazing,” Davis said. “Everybody put in the work and we as a team and as a community all deserve it, for sure.”

The Razorbacks and Red Raiders each limited their turnovers to nine against intense defense and both teams made 12 free throws, but Arkansas shot 41.9% from the field (26 of 62) and held Texas Tech to 36.9% (22 of 61). Arkansas also had a 38-36 edge in rebounds.

“Just want to congratulate Arkansas, Coach Muss and those guys,” said Beard, the former University of Arkansas at Little Rock coach. “Kind of a classic NCAA Tournament game.

“Could have gone either way. I was hoping it’s going to be one of those games that the team that had the ball last would win it.”

Smith made sure that didn’t happen.

“I told Justin on the bus, ‘That’s great defense,’ ” Davis said. “We looked at the video multiple times, and he didn’t touch [Edwards]. I don’t know why that guy flopped.

“But you see it was great defense, and you see JD Notae got the ball.”

For the Razorbacks, it was the Sweetest of sights.