No. 4 seed Arkansas (28-8) vs. No. 1 seed Arizona (34-2) | NCAA Tournament West Regional Sweet 16 | SAP Center, San Jose, Calif. | 6:45 p.m. | CBS | 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Probable starters
ARIZONA
0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)
5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)
18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)
10 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)
13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)
Key reserves
30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)
3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)
2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)
ARKANSAS
5 G Darius Acuff (6-3 freshman)
1 G Meleek Thomas (6-5 freshman)
24 F Billy Richmond (6-6 sophomore)
7 F Trevon Brazile (6-10 senior)
12 C Malique Ewin (6-10 senior)
Key reserves
21 G D.J. Wagner (6-4 junior)
30 F Isaiah Sealy (6-7 freshman)
23 F Nick Pringle (6-10 senior)
How they match up
How they got here: Seeded No. 1 after winning the Big 12 regular-season and conference tournament titles, Arizona beat No. 16 LIU 92-58 on Friday in a first-round game and Utah State 78-66 in a second-round contest Sunday.
Arkansas went 13-5 in the SEC to tie for second place with Alabama, three games behind league champion Florida, but beat Oklahoma, Mississippi and Vanderbilt to win the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks received a No. 4 NCAA Tournament seed in the West Region, then beat Hawaii 97-78 in the first round and High Point 94-88 in the second round in a Portland, Oregon, pod.
Series history: Arkansas leads 6-2, but the teams haven’t played for over three decades. Arkansas beat Arizona 91-82 in the national semifinals in 1994, though Arizona won 83-73 on Nov. 17, 1995, in Fayetteville, Ark., the last time they met.
Arkansas overview: The Razorbacks played their best basketball late last season, when veteran John Calipari was in his first season coaching them, and the same may be true this time around. The Razorbacks have won seven straight since losing at defending national champion Florida on Feb. 28, finishing the regular season with a 20-point home win over Texas and an overtime victory at Missouri.
Calipari has the Razorbacks running at a furious pace, and Arkansas takes care of the ball while doing so. Arkansas ranks first in turnover percentage, losing the ball on just 12.2% of its possessions, while allowing only 6.7% of its two-point shots to be blocked and 6.7% of its possessions to end in steals by opponents.
Overall, Arkansas ranks fifth in offensive efficiency but just 53rd in defensive efficiency, relying on its high-energy, high-scoring offensive pace to win games. Defensively, the Razorbacks allow opponents to shoot 54.0% from two-point range, though they do block 13.0% of opponents’ two-pointers.
Five-star freshman guard Darius Acuff is the undisputed engine, leading the Razorbacks in scoring (23.3) and assists (6.5) while shooting 50.8% from two-point range and hitting 44.6% of his 3-pointers. He also draws 4.9 fouls per game and shoots free throws at an 81.1% rate.
Backcourt mate Maleek Thomas, another five-star freshman, averages 15.6 points while hitting 42.0% of his 3-pointers and 85.0% of his free throws. Junior D.J. Wagner, a third-year player who followed Calipari over from Kentucky, brings a steady presence off the bench at point guard behind the two freshmen.
While the Razorbacks haven’t been as strong inside, center Malique Ewin jumped into the starting lineup during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and responded with double-doubles in both games. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists against Hawaii, while collecting 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks against High Point in the second round.
Power forward Trevon Brazile, meanwhile, has given the Razorbacks a little bit of everything. He’s a 65.1% two-point shooter who is capable of stretching out defenses (35.3% from 3-point range) — and blocks 5.3% of opponents’ two-point shots when he’s on the floor, the 163rd best block percentage nationally.
Arkansas’ other big man, Nick Pringle, missed last weekend with a hamstring injury, but he is expected to play Thursday, giving the Razorbacks a physical screener. Karter Knox, a 6-6 forward, hasn’t played since mid-February because of a torn meniscus and entered the week questionable.
He said it:
"They're the second best fast break team in the country. They attack the offensive glass. They get out and run. They're great on kick aheads. They use their athleticism. They're great in transition, and then, of course, half court with Acuff running the show.
"(Acuff and Thomas) are electric. They have a knack for scoring. They have good role players who make plays off the ball to allow them to have outlets, whether it's cutting to the basket or for 3s. And they were battling all year. You don't win the SEC tournament if you can't make plays when they're needed to play outside of just their offensive sets."
-- UA assistant coach Brandon Chappell, who scouted the Razorbacks
Key players
ARKANSAS
Darius Acuff
Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. (5) celebrates a three-point basket against Oklahoma during the first half of the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference tournament, March 13, in Nashville, Tenn.
A consensus first-team all-American as a freshman this season, Acuff has delivered on the immense expectations that followed him to Fayetteville. He was ranked the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2025, having played at IMG Academy and in 2024 for UA coach Tommy Lloyd in the U18 FIBA AmeriCup tournament.
ARIZONA
Jaden Bradley
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) shoots against Utah State during the second half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday, March 22, 2026, in San Diego.
Once a five-star point guard out of IMG Academy himself, Bradley figures to have a busy evening on both ends of the floor during a matchup between two of the country's best backcourts.
Sidelines
He’s back
As Arizona’s coach between 2009-10 and 2020-21, Sean Miller led the Wildcats to five Sweet 16 games, the last of which was played at the very same SAP Center where Miller and the Wildcats will return Thursday.
Only Miller will be coaching Texas against Purdue in the West’s first Sweet 16 game for the right to face his old team or Arkansas in the Elite Eight on Saturday.
The top-seeded Wildcats were expected to reach San Jose, but Miller’s Longhorns lost 14 games and were given one of the final at-large NCAA bids.
They were shipped to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, where they barely beat North Carolina State 68-66, before putting away BYU and Gonzaga last weekend in Portland.
Texas head coach Sean Miller reacts during the second half of an NCAA Tournament first-round game against BYU on Thursday in Portland, Ore.
“I know this: that over time learning from lessons, good and bad, you always have the opportunity to evolve and grow,” Miller said. “When you look at our team this year … we spent a lot of time talking about being able to learn from failure and grow, and sometimes when you go through those tough moments, it can really bring out the best and take you to a place and another side that quite frankly you would never have arrived at if you didn't go through that.
“I guess to some degree that's me as a coach. But I also think our team, when we talk about being resilient, these guys have really done a great job doing that really well.”
Old-school Cal
In his 34th season as a head coach, Calipari was asked last weekend how he’s evolved, especially over the past 10 or 15 years.
In a long response, Calipari said his first teams at UMass in the 1980s had players who called him “soft,” while he said he’s been honest with players and let his stars do their thing.
“What's changed is how we play this game,” Calipari said. “Do you remember when it used to be five passes before you shoot, you screen everybody? Do you remember how much pick and roll? I never did any pick and roll with Derrick Rose (on his national runner-up team at Memphis in 2007-08). The reason was I wanted him to shoot the ball. I didn't want two people to guard him. So we did stuff different.”
Arkansas coach John Calipari watches his team warm up before playing Missouri Feb. 21, 2026, in Fayetteville, Ark.
But while the use of analytics has grown dramatically, Calipari indicated he doesn’t let them sway him much.
“More people are (doing) analytics,” Calipari said. “I'm not that guy either. I listen to the numbers, but I go with my gut. Sometimes it's right; sometimes it's not. But that's how I've done it. It's worked out pretty good.”
Cool-headed
When a reporter asked Lloyd about his “subtle style” after the Wildcats’ win over Utah State, the UA coach said he picked up a lot of it from Gonzaga coach Mark Few, Lloyd’s longtime boss before he became UA’s coach in 2021.
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and then-assistant coach Tommy Lloyd chat during the second of a Bulldogs' matchup against Utah Valley in Spokane, Washington on Nov. 11, 2016.
“He’s pretty calm, cool and collected,” Lloyd said. “Obviously, when you’re with a guy for 22 years, you learn a lot by osmosis.
“I think what’s really cool about coaching and basketball is there’s so many different styles. I think the most important thing is to just be your true authentic self.
“I don’t want to be a guy that’s constantly yelling and screaming and nagging. It’s just not who I am.”
Numbers game
0: Arizona wins in its previous four Sweet 16 games (2017, 2022, 2024, 2025)
17: Sweet 16 appearances for Calipari
23: Sweet 16 appearances all-time for Arizona, including four over Lloyd's five seasons
— Bruce Pascoe
