Texas Tech rallies from 16 points down to beat Arkansas 85-83 in first OT game in March Madness

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Darrion Williams could barely make a shot for the first 30 minutes. He didn't miss when it mattered most, sending Texas Tech to an improbable spot in the Elite Eight.

Williams scored the go-ahead basket with 7.3 seconds left in overtime after tying the game with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to lead Texas Tech to an 85-83 win over Arkansas on Thursday night.

“The heart of the team is Darrion Williams,” coach Grant McCasland said. “He just is a resilient guy. I can’t even explain it. I put faith in him because I do believe that he’ll find a way in one-game scenarios to do whatever it takes to win. I honestly do. Whatever it takes.”

The first overtime game of March Madness came thanks to a furious comeback by the third-seeded Red Raiders (28-8) from 13 points down with less than 5 minutes left against coach John Calipari's 10th-seeded Razorbacks (22-14).

Texas Tech advanced to play top-seeded Florida in the West Region final on Saturday with a chance at the school's second Final Four trip after losing the title game to Virginia in 2019.

That idea seemed far-fetched for most of this game as Arkansas broke out to a double-digit lead early and was in control most of the way, leading by as many as 16 points in the second half.

“In the huddle, Coach said we’re going to find a way to win this no matter how much we’re down,” guard Christian Anderson said. “As a team we had that look, we’re not losing this game no matter what. ... We had to find a way to make it happen. And at the end we did, so that was it.”

Williams helped will the Red Raiders down the stretch after opening the game by missing 13 of his 15 shots in front of a large contingent of his friends and family that came from Sacramento for the game.

But the Red Raiders closed regulation with a 16-3 run behind three 3-pointers from Anderson and three baskets from Williams. The biggest came when he rattled in a 3 with 9.7 seconds left after Jonas Aidoo had missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Williams had missed eight of his first nine attempts from 3 before that make.

"Obviously they weren’t going in, but I was shooting open ones", Williams said. “They’ll fall.”

JT Toppin then scored to start overtime and give Texas Tech its first lead since the opening minutes and it went back and forth from there, with D.J. Wagner tying it for Arkansas with 34 seconds left.

Williams then scored down low to give Texas Tech the lead and Wagner's last shot hit the front rim, sending the Red Raiders into a wild celebration at midcourt as Williams pointed to the crowd following the second biggest comeback in Sweet 16 history.

Calipari could only walk off the court with pursed lips and a sigh as his first season at Arkansas ended in heartbreak after he fell just short of being the first coach to take four schools to the Elite Eight.

“We’re all disappointed here,” Calipari said. “But I told them, there’s nothing them individually or my team could do to disappoint me because of what they’ve done this year. I’m so proud of them.”

Anderson scored 22 points to lead Texas Tech, while Toppin and Williams added 20 apiece.

Johnell Davis scored 30 points for the Razorbacks and Karter Knox added 20.

The Red Raiders were missing a key player once again with top outside shooter Chance McMillian missing his fourth straight game with an oblique injury. McMillian, who grew up in San Francisco, had been hoping to play in his homecoming game but was ruled out before tipoff.

Arkansas got forward Adou Thiero back for the first time since he injured his left knee on Feb. 22. Thiero played five minutes.

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Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (5) shoots a 3-pointer during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (5) celebrates after making a 3-pointer during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (5) celebrates after scoring during overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Texas Tech guard Elijah Hawkins (3) celebrates after winning in overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arkansas head coach John Calipari leaves the court after the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Texas Tech, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Arkansas guard D.J. Wagner (21) reacts after the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Texas Tech, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (5) shoots during overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile (4) dunks during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Texas Tech, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Arkansas forward Zvonimir Ivisic (44) and forward Jonas Aidoo (9) defend against Texas Tech guard Kevin Overton, right, during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (5), Arkansas forward Zvonimir Ivisic (44) and guard Boogie Fland (2) reach for a rebound during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arkansas head coach John Calipari reacts from the sideline during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Texas Tech, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arkansas guard Johnell Davis (1) shoots during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Texas Tech, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Texas Tech guard Kevin Overton (1) and guard Elijah Hawkins (3) defend against Arkansas guard Johnell Davis (1) during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson (4) celebrates after winning in overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland celebrates after winning in overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament game against Arkansas, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile (4) blocks a shot by Texas Tech forward JT Toppin (15) during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (5) shoots against Arkansas forward Zvonimir Ivisic (44) during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

President Donald Trump said “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he's considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview Sunday with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.

The 22nd Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row, says “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Here's the latest:

Calls from the U.S. to Roustan Hockey headquarters in Canada in recent weeks have been anything but routine, as bulk orders of name-brand sticks have suddenly become complicated conversations.

“These customers want to know: When their orders ship, will they have to pay an additional 25% tariff? And we respond by saying, ’Well, right now we don’t know, so they postpone their order or cancel their order because they want to know before they order what the cost is going to be,” said Graeme Roustan, who owns the company that makes and sells more than 100,000 hockey sticks annually to the U.S. market.

The prospect of 25% tariffs by Trump on Canadian imports, currently paused for some goods but facing full implementation Wednesday, has caused headaches if not havoc throughout the commercial ecosystem. The sports equipment industry is certainly no exception, with so many of the products manufactured for sports -loving Americans outside the U.S.

▶ Read more about the effects of possible tariffs on the price of sporting goods

U.S. immigration officials are asking the public and federal agencies to comment on a proposal to collect social media handles from people applying for benefits such as green cards or citizenship, to comply with an executive order from Trump.

The March 5 notice raised alarms from immigration and free speech advocates because it appears to expand the government’s reach in social media surveillance to people already vetted and in the U.S. legally, such as asylum seekers, green card and citizenship applicants – and not just those applying to enter the country. That said, social media monitoring by immigration officials has been a practice for over a decade, since at least the second Obama administration and ramping up under Trump’s first term.

▶ Read more about what the new proposal means and how it might expand social media surveillance

Elon Musk gave out $1 million checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin Supreme Court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda and “the future of civilization.”

Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20 million to help conservative favorite Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s race, which will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state.

A unanimous state Supreme Court on Sunday refused to hear a last-minute attempt by the state’s Democratic attorney general to stop Musk from handing over the checks to two voters, a ruling that came just minutes before the planned start of the rally.

Two lower courts had already rejected the legal challenge by Democrat Josh Kaul, who argues that Musk’s offer violates a state law.

▶ Read more about Musk in Wisconsin

The group of Democrats, most of whom serve as their state’s top election official, is telling Congress the legislative proposal to add a proof of citizenship requirement when registering to vote could disenfranchise voters and upend election administration.

On Monday, the House Rules Committee is expected to consider the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. The letter signed by 15 secretaries of state was sent Friday.

Voting by noncitizens is rare, but Republicans say any instances undermine public confidence. Last week, President Trump directed, among other things, an update to the federal voter registration form to require proof of citizenship. Legal challenges are expected.

In the letter, Democrats say it’s the “job of election officials to verify the eligibility of citizens to cast a ballot, not the job of citizens to convince the government that they are eligible to exercise their right to vote.”

Trump says Wednesday will be “Liberation Day” — a moment when he plans to roll out a set of tariffs that he promises will free the United States from foreign goods.

The details of Trump’s next round of import taxes are still sketchy. Most economic analyses say average U.S. families would have to absorb the cost of his tariffs in the form of higher prices and lower incomes. But an undeterred Trump is inviting CEOs to the White House to say they are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in new projects to avoid the import taxes.

It is also possible that the tariffs are short-lived if Trump feels he can cut a deal after imposing them.

“I’m certainly open to it, if we can do something,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll get something for it.”

At stake are family budgets, America’s prominence as the world’s leading financial power and the structure of the global economy.

▶ Read more about what you should know regarding the impending trade penalties

Trump will sign executive orders twice today, first at 1 p.m. ET and again at 5:30 p.m. ET, according to the White House.

Immigration remains a strength for Trump, but his handling of tariffs is getting more negative feedback, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About half of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s approach to immigration, the survey shows, but only about 4 in 10 have a positive view of the way he’s handling the economy and trade negotiations.

The poll indicates that many Americans are still on board with Trump’s efforts to ramp up deportations and restrict immigration. But it also suggests that his threats to impose tariffs might be erasing his advantage on another issue that he made central to his winning 2024 campaign.

Views of Trump’s job performance overall are more negative than positive, the survey found. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and more than half disapprove.

▶ Read more about the findings from the poll

Trump said Sunday that “I’m not joking” about trying to serve a third term, the clearest indication he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029.

“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.

He elaborated later to reporters on Air Force One from Florida to Washington that “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election was totally rigged.” Trump lost that election to Democrat Joe Biden.

Still, Trump added: “I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we’ve got a long time to go.”

▶ Read more about Trump’s comments on a third term

President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he walks on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)