Arizona beats Arkansas by 21 in NCAA tournament Sweet 16 - ESPN

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Arizona finally got over the Sweet 16 hurdle under coach Tommy Lloyd, getting 23 points from Brayden Burries and a dominant offensive effort in a 109-88 win over Arkansas on Thursday night in an NCAA tournament West Regional semifinal game.

Fellow freshmen Koa Peat added 21 points and Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 as the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) won their 12th straight game to tie a school record for wins in a season and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015.

Arizona will play second-seeded Purdue on Saturday night for a spot in the Final Four. The Boilermakers beat Texas 79-77 in the first game.

The Razorbacks (28-9) reached the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six seasons but again fell short and are still seeking their first Final Four appearance since 1995.

The 21-point loss is the largest for Arkansas coach John Calipari in the NCAA tournament. Thursday marked his 85th game as a coach in the tournament.

Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka all scored 14 points as Arizona became the first team in NCAA tournament history with six players scoring at least 14 points in a game. The Wildcats shot 64% (37 of 58), the highest field goal percentage by any team in the Sweet 16 or later since Villanova in the 2016 Final Four (71% vs. Oklahoma).

Lloyd won a record 147 games in his first five seasons as a head coach but had been unable to find tournament success before this season. Arizona had lost three times in the Sweet 16 and once in the first round as a No. 2 seed in Lloyd's first four seasons.

But the Wildcats have rolled through this year's tournament outside of a couple of tense moments in the second round against Utah State, outscoring the opposition by 67 points in three