After a back-and-forth first half, Arkansas went on a 7-0 run to end the first period, taking a 35-32 lead into the break. In the final 20 minutes, the Razorbacks initially raced out to a 13-point advantage, leading 55-42 with a little over 11 minutes remaining.

The decades-long Rick Pitino-John Calipari saga gets a new touch of Madness on Saturday. St. John's is favored against Arkansas.

Later Thursday, William & Mary played in its first ever NCAA Tournament game and prevailed with a 69-63 win over High Point. Bella Nascimento led the way for the Tribe with 24 points to set up a matchup with Texas, the No. 1 seed in the Birmingham 3 region.