Texas Tech Athletics
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No. 1 Florida
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No. 3 Red Raiders fall to No. 1 Florida in Elite 8
March 29, 2025 | Men's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO – No. 3 Texas Tech had its run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament end with an 84-79 loss to No. 1 Florida in the West Region Finals on Saturday at the Chase Center. Darrion Williams led the Red Raiders (28-9) with 23 points and JT Toppin recorded his 19th double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Toppin and Williams were both named to the West Region All-Tournament Team.
"I'm thankful," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "I'm just thankful that this group of guys, I think, did get a taste and did get to see what it means to really love your teammates the way that I think God tells us to give everything we have. And I mean it. Like, how do you give everything you have? How do you lay down your life? How do you sacrifice for other people? How do you love other people in a real way? I think that's what builds from year to year. I believe that's the heart of the guys that we have and that's what will be the most important part of these rosters is that heart. We'll be able to do it with the guys that we'll have returning because of it."
Florida (33-4) will face the South Region champion - either Auburn or Michigan State - next Saturday in San Antonio.
Chance McMillian returned to the court and provided 14 points with two 3-pointers after missing the previous four games due to injury. McMillian was 2-for-5 on 3-pointers and also had three rebounds. Elijah Hawkins led Tech with seven assists and added four rebounds while Kerwin Walton had six points, Kevin Overton scored five and Christian Anderson and Federiko Federiko had four points each. Tech finished the game 10-for-27 from 3-point range and was 7-of-13 at the free-throw line. Florida went 25-of-27 at the free-throw line, made 9-of-24 on 3-point attempts and finished with a 42-35 rebounding advantage. Toppin was 9-for-22 from the field and had six offensive rebounds while Williams was 9-for-18 overall and led Tech with three 3-pointers to go along with three steals and five rebounds.
Tech fell just short of advancing to its second Final Four in program history after reaching the third Elite 8 program history. Tech, which finished No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, came into the second picked seventh in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and were unranked nationally for the majority of the season. The team knocked off No. 14 UNC Wilmington, No. 11 Drake and No. 10 Arkansas to reach the West Region Finals.
"I think we accomplished a lot," Williams said. "ot what we wanted, obviously, but we were picked to finish seventh in conference. If anybody told you they thought we would be in the Elite Eight they would be lying to you, besides our team and our inner circle. At the end of the day, it hurts right now. We look back at it, feel like we could have went farther but I think overall we had a good season."
"Nobody picked us to be here," Toppin added. "Just to look back at it now, I'm proud and I just love my teammates. I'm sad about the outcome."
The Red Raiders led 71-61 after a Toppin layup with six minutes remaining and were up 75-66 on another Toppin layup with 3:14 on the clock. Thomas Haugh got the Gators back in the game, hitting back-to-back three 3-pointers to cut it to three before a Walter Clayton, Jr. 3-pointer tied the game at 75. The 9-0 run ended with Darrion Williams putting the Red Raiders up two before Clayton struck again with another 3-pointer for a one-point lead. Four straight Gator free throws made it a five-point game and two more after a McMillian layup ended it.
Clayton led the Gators with a game-high 30 points, hitting three 3-pointers and going 13-of-14 at the free-throw line. He would hit a fadeaway 3 with 59 seconds remaining to give Florida a 78-77 lead.
"He's a hard cover," McCasland said. "He's just so difficult. He can hurt you in so many different ways. He's dynamic at shooting. But he's crafty in his change of pace. They do such a good job of moving the ball."
Florida took a 40-37 lead into halftime after going 10-for-10 at the free-throw line to overcome Tech making 7-of-16 from 3-point range. Williams led Tech with 10 points while Toppin went into the break with nine points and five rebounds. McMillian had seven points and Walton scored six after opening the game with two 3-pointer on Tech's opening possessions. Hawkins had four assists, three rebounds and three points through 20 minutes. Williams was 2-for-5 on 3s, hitting his first for a 9-3 lead before a 10-0 run by the Gators. The run ended with Toppin hitting a 3-pointer and Tech was back on top with a 24-19 on a 3 from Hawkins and up 27-23 when McMillian connected from deep. The Gators went on a 6-0 run for a 34-31 lead before Toppin broke it up again.
"I wanted to sit in that locker room forever, honestly," McCasland said to open his postgame press conference. "I don't know. You get in these moments and a lot has happened in a short amount of time because the game has a scoreboard. I hate that we aren't continuing to play because I know these guys love each other."
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