SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland fully expected top outside shooter Chance McMillian to be available for the Red Raiders’ Sweet 16 game against Arkansas.
But after moving around well during an earlier shootaround, McMillian arrived at Chase Center and ruled himself out for Thursday night’s game, which Texas Tech rallied to win 85-83 in overtime.
“Maybe what happened in shootaround set him back a little bit,” McCasland said. “I trust him with everything. He’s the other guy to me that has the greatest belief on our team that we’re going to win and he’ll do anything it takes to win. It just felt like he wasn’t quite confident enough that he could help the team so he decided not to dress.”
McMillian is nursing an oblique injury sustained in the Big 12 Tournament earlier this month.
Now, McMillian has another opportunity to come back and play at home in the Bay Area if his body feels ready in time for Saturday’s Elite Eight matchup with top-seeded Florida.
“We got to the arena and we had him plan to dress out and to be ready,” McCasland said after the comeback victory. “You don’t know in these games, like what it was tonight, you may be somewhat limited but I thought there was a chance he could play. And we were planning on dressing him out and he got to the arena, he just came to me and said he couldn’t do it.”
McMillian had expressed hope that he would be able to play in his homecoming but instead missed his fourth straight game. He grew up in San Francisco and went to high school in nearby Vallejo.
McMillian leads the Red Raiders with 69 3-pointers this season and is shooting a team-best 43.4% from long range. He is third on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game.
Arkansas forward Adou Thiero returned for the first time since he injured his knee on Feb. 22. Thiero played just more than five minutes, missing his only shot but making a free throw to go with one rebound.
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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.
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