Texas Tech basketball sets NCAA Tournament record from 3-point range
03/21/2025 11:29 AM
In its first-round win over UNC Wilmington, Texas Tech set a new NCAA men’s basketball tournament record, even if it did not go as smoothly as planned.
Though the Red Raiders ended up winning by 10, the game was much closer throughout than the final score suggests. To get the victory, Texas Tech needed to hoist up 46 three-point attempts in the game, setting a new NCAA Tournament record.
The attempts were a new high, but Texas Tech did not come close to matching the record for three-pointers made. The Red Raiders hit just 13 of their 46 attempts, a mere 28.3 percent from distance. Forward Kevin Walton led the way with eight made triples, though he needed 19 attempts to get there. Walton ended the contest with a game-high 27 points.
As poorly as Texas Tech shot from deep, UNC Wilmington was equally as inefficient from distance. The Seahawks were just 7-for-26 from behind the arc, hitting at a 26.9 percent clip. Junior guard Nolan Hodge led the team with 18 points off the bench.
The back-and-forth affair saw Texas Tech enter halftime with just a four-point lead. UNC Wilmington took a brief 48-47 lead in the second half but never regained it, eventually succumbing to the pressure.
Texas Tech basketball moves on to face Drake
The win moves Texas Tech into the Round of 32 for the first time since 2022. The Red Raiders will face No. 11-seeded Drake, who upset Missouri in its first-round matchup.
Against Drake, the Red Raiders will face one of the toughest defenses in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs limited opponents to just 59.7 points in the regular season, the second-fewest in the country. They allowed just 57 to Missouri in the Round of 64.
Drake also allows just 18 three-point attempts to its opponents, the 11th-fewest in Division I. Regression is expected from both sides, but the odds of Texas Tech jacking up another 40 three-pointers are not high against Ben McCollum’s defense.
Texas Tech and Drake tip-off on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET from the INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. The No. 3-seeded Red Raiders are unsurprisingly closing as the 10-point betting favorites.
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