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With a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, Texas Tech's swarming defense won out over Notre Dame's vaunted 3-point shooting.
It certainly wasn't artistic, and that's OK with the Red Raiders, the top defensive team in the country.
No. 3 seed Texas Tech relied on stops and free throws during a closing 10-1 run that carried it to a 59-53 victory over the 11th-seeded Fighting Irish on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"We have the mindset of not going home," said forward Kevin Obanor, who hit two go-ahead free throws with 1:10 left and finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
It was such a workmanlike performance by the bigger, stronger Red Raiders that they won despite making one of their final 11 field goals. That was an emphatic dunk by Kevin McCullar with 15 seconds left.
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Texas Tech guard Kevin McCullar (15) shoots over Notre Dame forward Paul Atkinson Jr. (20) during the first half of a second-round NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, March 20, 2022, San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
"This is a March game. I’m so excited right now I can’t put it into words," McCullar said. "It came down to defense. We knew we needed to get stops against a really good Notre Dame team. That’s what we ended up doing. And we hit some big free throws."
McCullar and Bryson Williams each scored 14 points for Texas Tech (27-9), which made its third round of 16 in the past four tournaments and fifth in school history. The Red Raiders, under first-year coach Mark Adams, will face second-seeded Duke and retiring 42nd-year coach Mike Krzyzewski in the West Region semifinals Thursday
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