How Sweet (16) it is!

Hogs take down No. 2 seed St. John's, 75-66

From the University of Arkansas

arkansasrazorbacks.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Arkansas upset 2-seed St.

John’s 75-66 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament inside a rowdy Amica Mutual Pavilion to advance to the program’s 15th Sweet 16.

The Razorbacks and Red Storm slugged it out in a physical game that saw 44 total fouls, including 25 in the second half. The Hogs, however, took control early and led for over 34 minutes but not without St. John’s cutting the deficit to two points with just over four minutes remaining. Arkansas answered with a Billy Richmond jumper to spur a 9-2 run to end the game and send the Hogs to their fourth Sweet 16 in five seasons.

Richmond led Arkansas with nine rebounds and 16 points as one of three players in double digits, fellow freshman Karter Knox added 15 points and Johnell Davis added 13 points. Knox went 9-for-11 from the free throw line to go with six boards.

Zuby Ejiofor led all players with 23 points and 12 rebounds as St. John’s pounded the glass, out rebounding the Razorbacks 51-45 with 28 offensive rebounds.

The Red Storm trailed by 13 in the second half before cutting Arkansas’ lead to 66-64 with 4:11 to go. But a Billy Richmond III jumper with 2:58 remaining restored Arkansas' lead back to four.

Then a steal by Boogie Fland and a bucket by D.J. Wagner immediately after a St. John’s timeout helped seal the game. It’s the fourth time in the past

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five seasons that Arkansas has advanced to at least the Sweet 16. Before missing the tournament a year ago under Eric Musselman, the Razorbacks had gone to the Elite Eight in 2021 and 2022 and the Sweet 16 in 2023.

The victory is the third for Calipari against Pitino in the NCAA tournament.

The national title winners were 2-2 against each other in the postseason and hadn't met in March Madness since the 2012 Final Four when Calipari was at Kentucky and Pitino coached Louisville. It also means a Calipari-coached team is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.

Kentucky lost twice in the first round and once in the second round in each of the past three tournaments. St. John's star and Big East player of the year RJ Luis Jr. struggled mightily Saturday and was on the bench for the final 4:56 of the game. Luis led the team with 18.5 points per game this season but was just 3-of-17 from the field and scored nine points.

The Red Storm were clearly bothered by Arkansas' length throughout the entire game. St.

John's was a staggering 8of-25 on shots classified as layups. That poor shooting helped lead to 28 offensive rebounds and 25 secondchance points.

The poor shooting wasn't limited to the paint, either.

St. John's was 2-of-22 from behind the 3-point line and shot just 28% overall.