ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Texas Tech men’s basketball team carries around a mantra like a chip on its shoulder: The secret’s in the dirt. It is a particularly appealing message — that success is usually found by getting your hands in the muck — especially to the ears of basketball mutts and vagabonds, and a star whose own father questioned why he would want to stay home in Lubbock.

So when a moment of truth arrived on Saturday, and top-seeded Gonzaga — with its free-flowing offense and shotmakers all over the court — readied for a final charge, the Red Raiders found success by doing what they do best: digging in.

The Red Raiders, leaning on their defense as they have all season, clamped down on Gonzaga and rode a pair of ice-cold 3-pointers from Davide Moretti and some cool free-throw shooting to a 75-69 victory in the West Region final of the N.C.A.A. tournament.

The win sends No. 3 Texas Tech to the Final Four in Minneapolis, the first trip in team history.

“We did it, baby,” Jarrett Culver said as he embraced his doubting father, Hiawatha, before cutting down the nets with his teammates and retreating to the locker room where the players danced to Lil Yachty’s “Minnesota.”