3 takeaways from Texas Tech’s NCAA Tournament loss to Arkansas:

The Red Raiders came inches away from tying the game.

“I’m proud of our players,” Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. “I wish from a coaching standpoint there was something I could do to just help them. Back-to-back years, that Virginia locker room and that Arkansas game locker room. That’s part of it. There’s only one team that finishes in a good mood.”

Texas Tech missed two layups in their final two possessions as they fell 68-66 to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Tech’s season comes to an end with an 18-11 record, all 11 losses came against teams seeded higher than they are in the NCAA Tournament.

Here are three takeaways from the Red Raiders’ second-round defeat:

Two runs define a close first half

After Arkansas got off to a 5-0 start, the Red Raiders ended an over two-minute scoring drought by going on a run to grab a double-digit lead.

Led by Terrence Shannon with seven points, Tech went on a 23-8 run over the course of seven minutes and 12 seconds to stretch their lead to ten with 10:35 left.

But the Red Raiders, who started 9-14 from the floor went cold, allowing the Razorbacks to claw back into the contest.

Back-to-back Arkansas 3-pointers were followed up by back-to-back possessions that featured three missed shots each by Tech. From there on, no team would hold a lead larger than four points the rest of the half.

The teams traded baskets down the stretch as the game was tied on three different occasions in the final six minutes.

A layup by Justin smith with 3:12 left pushed the lead to 33-31 in favor of Arkansas, as neither team would score for the rest of the half.

Texas Tech ended the half cold from the field, scoring eight points on three field goals in the final 10 minutes.

The Red Raiders missed their final five field goals, and 16 of their last 19, in the half.

Tech entered the locker room shooting 36%, compared to 42% from Arkansas, after they started shooting 64% in the first 10 minutes.

Shannon led the team in scoring with nine.

Texas Tech’s cold shooting carries over to the second half

Texas Tech needed halftime badly, but the Red Raiders would come out in the second half just as flat.

After only having two turnovers in the first half, the Red Raiders gave the ball away three times in the first four minutes of the second, all coming on offensive fouls.

After two free throws by Mac McClung on the first possession, Tech only scored on one of their next seven possessions while Arkansas went on an 11-4 run to take a game-high at the time nine-point lead, 44-35.

After starting 9-14 shooting, Tech would make six of their next 35 shot attempts over the course of 22 minutes. This cold-shooting included a span of five minutes and 43 seconds without a made field goal during the middle of the second half.

However, a 3-pointer on a second-chance attempt with 8:11 left by Kyler Edwards gave life back to the Red Raiders.

Edwards added another 3-pointer, and Shannon and Chibuzo Agbo each contributed with a 3-pointer of their own, as the Red Raiders closed the gap to one thanks to a 14-2 run, spanning just two minutes and 39 seconds.

Chris Beard praised his team for fighting back after being down by 13.

“I thought they had a lot of fight,” Beard said. “We’ve been doing that all year. We call it ‘Play it to the bone.’ We really competed down the stretch and gave ourselves a chance.”

The Razorbacks responded with a run of their own, 7-0, to extend the lead back to eight to set up the final stretch.

Tech misses a free throw and two layups in the final two minutes

Two free throws by Shannon with 1:56 left capped off a 7-0 run for Texas Tech to bring the game back to within one.

After getting a stop on the defensive end, Texas Tech pulled down the rebound before McClung was fouled moments later.

McClung, an 81% free throw shooter, missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving the Razorbacks another chance to add insurance points.

Texas Tech’s defense once again rose to the occasion, getting a stop after a missed 3-pointer from J.D. Notae, but once again the Red Raiders failed to capitalize on their possession.

Edwards found a cutting Shannon who snuck behind the defense but missed a layup from point-blank range.

Tech fouled Notae, and after the Arkansas guard went 1-2 from the line, Tech had one more chance to tie it or take the lead with 19 seconds left.

With two timeouts in his pocket, Chris Beard elected to not call one, trusting his veteran Edwards to make a play.

Edwards took the ball straight to the rack where his left-handed layup was pushed too hard, bouncing off the backboard and the front of the rim. Arkansas grabbed the rebound and ran out the final two seconds to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Beard said he believed Edwards made the correct decision.

“We knew the objective,” Beard said. “I thought Kyler made the right play. He knew we were only down two and were going to try to take the two in those situations. I thought he got a good, clean look at it. He made the right play.”

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