Boston Bound: Red Raiders Relish Sweet 16 Trip

DALLAS – The lyrics to "Sweet Caroline" have likely never sound so good to Chris Beard.

The classic Neil Diamond song blared out of the Texas Tech locker room Saturday night after the Red Raiders topped Florida, 69-66, to clinch their ticket to the Sweet 16 in Boston, the city where Diamond's hit became a sensation.

"It went our way tonight, a little bit of destiny out there," Beard said soon after the locker room celebration. "Florida got three great looks (at the end). We were just really, really fortunate."

Destiny might be a good word for this group of Red Raiders, who overcame halftime deficits against both Stephen F. Austin and Florida this past week only to pull away on runs in the closing minutes.

Tech appeared primed to make a postseason run after its successful regular season where the Red Raiders finished tied for second in the Big 12 standings and had a chance to clinch at least a share of the conference title over the final few games. The strong resume earned Tech a No. 3 seed in Dallas, a favorable location for the Red Raiders in one of its largest alumni bases.

The Red Raiders managed to keep Cinderella at bay from there, erasing an eight-point deficit against No. 11 seed Stephen F. Austin before utilizing a 9-0 run late a to edge the sixth-seeded Gators.

The result is Tech will be making the trip to Boston, the site of next weekend's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds.

"It's amazing," said guard Keenan Evans. "I feel like words can't really describe this journey with these guys. Coach Beard came in and said he was going to win. After last season, it was a disappointment, he told us we were going to get to this tournament next year. We were going to make a run, and he kept his word and here we are."

Part of that run has stemmed from the play of Evans, who has continued his knack for second-half heroics, pouring in 19 of his 23 points against Stephen F. Austin and then 16 of his 22 points versus Florida during the final 20 minutes.

Evans sliced through the Florida defense late in the second half, propelling Tech to a 9-0 run with just over seven minutes remaining. Evans, who had seven points during that run, added a crucial 3-pointer with 2:32 to go before finding Zhaire Smith on an alley-oop with just under 30 seconds left.

"Coach drew up a pick-and-roll play for me," Evans said of the alley-oop dunk that gave Tech a five-point lead. "I was hoping (Zhaire) would make a 360 dunk again, but that didn't work out. I saw him right there, and I threw it up and he went up and finished it."

The alley-oop gave Tech some breathing room to withstand a Florida layup and a turnover in the closing seconds as the Red Raiders held off two late 3-point attempts to tie.

The Red Raiders stormed the court quickly after Zach Smith brought down the final rebound to seal the victory. The celebration carried over to the locker room where Beard and several members of his staff were soon soaked with water.

It didn't matter, though. The Red Raiders would be soon heading to Boston to continue a historic run with a team Beard labels nothing short of "special."

"I'm just having so much fun with this group," Beard said. "I'm sure when we get to the next destination, we'll get greedy and want to do it again. But this is all about just surviving and advance. It really is. I'm proud to be these guys' coach. I'm just glad we get to live another day."

As Diamond said, the good times really never seemed so good.

We know y'all are still awake, so can we talk about this play? #WreckEm #4To1 pic.twitter.com/POhvGCilnZ
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 18, 2018

Texas Tech University Athletics

Boston Bound: Red Raiders Relish Sweet 16 Trip

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