Moon native John Calipari is heading to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time, and this one could be the sweetest of all.

Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks beat longtime nemesis Rick Pitino and No. 2 seed St. John’s, 75-66, on Saturday, sending their itinerant coach to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with his fourth school.

Billy Richmond III scored 16 points, and Karter Knox had 15 for the 10th-seeded Razorbacks, who sent Kansas and their Hall of Fame coach Bill Self home from the “Region of Coaches” in the first round.

But the victory over his longtime rival was especially sweet for Calipari, who brought the Razorbacks (22-13) back to the tournament in his first season in Fayetteville despite early-season injuries that left them 0-5 to start the SEC schedule.

“I told them, ‘This is as rewarding as a year I’ve had, based on how far we’ve come,’ ” he said.

Arkansas advanced to face Texas Tech on Thursday in the West Region semifinals.

Zuby Ejiofor had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Big East champion St. John’s (31-5). Conference player of the year RJ Luis Jr. had nine points, half his season average, on 3-of-17 shooting.

“They outplayed us. They deserve to move on, and we don’t,” Pitino said. “That’s what March Madness is all about. No matter how good a regular season you have, you play this way, you’re going to get beat.”

Texas Tech 77, Drake 64 — Darrion Williams scored a season-high 28 points, JT Toppin had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 3 seed Texas Tech dominated No. 11 seed Drake in the paint on its way to a victory.

Elijah Hawkins added 16 points for the Red Raiders (27-8), who denied the Bulldogs their first Sweet 16 trip in more than five decades.

Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points, and Daniel Abreu added 15 for Drake (31-4), which was outscored 50-20 inside by the bigger, stronger Red Raiders, and had its eight-game winning streak come to an end.

South Region

Michigan 91, Texas A&M 79 — Michigan is going back to the Sweet 16 a year after a 24-loss season, using Roddy Gayle’s surge to beat Texas A&M.

Gayle scored 21 of his season-high 26 points in the second half to help the restocked Wolverines overcome a 10-point deficit and advance to face Auburn in the South Region.

Vladislav Goldin had 23 points and 12 rebounds as fifth-seeded Michigan (27-9) overcame another big day for Pharrel Payne, who led Texas A&M with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

In two NCAA games at Ball Arena, Payne scored 51 points on 20-of-25 shooting and pulled down 15 rebounds.

The Wolverines, who made a surprising run to the Big Ten tournament title, won for the fifth time in nine days. The fourth-seeded Aggies (23-11) were playing for just the second time in nine days, but they were the ones who looked exhausted at elevation by game’s end.

The Aggies missed eight of their last nine shots, and the Wolverines closed on a 9-0 run after two free throws by Zhuric Phelps pulled Texas A&M to 82-79 with 1:29 remaining.

Two years ago, Goldin was a key player on FAU’s Final Four team. When Michigan fired coach Juwan Howard and hired Dusty May away from FAU a year ago, the new coach brought his old center with him to Ann Arbor.

Auburn 82, Creighton 70 — Tahaad Pettiford scored 16 of his 23 points after halftime, and Chad Baker-Mazara added 17 points for top-seeded Auburn, which held ninth-seeded Creighton scoreless for more than six minutes during a 10-0 second-half run. Pettiford scored six points during that burst to push the Tigers (30-5) to a 68-54 lead.

Bruce Pearl’s Tigers were upset in the first round by Yale last year, and he had not taken Auburn past the second round since it reached its only Final Four in 2019. This time, his goal is the Tigers’ first national title.

Midwest Region

Purdue 76, McNeese St. 62 — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and the fourth-seeded Boilermakers used a fast start to roll in the second round.

Fletcher Loyer added 15 points. C.J. Cox finished with 11 points for the Boilermakers (24-11), who advanced through the Midwest Region to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season.

The Boilermakers will meet the winner of top-seed Houston and eighth-seeded Gonzaga in the regional semifinal. In his 16 NCAA Tournament appearances with Purdue, coach Matt Painter is now headed to his eighth Sweet 16.

Sincere Parker had 17 points to lead McNeese (28-7). Javohn Garcia added 12 points as the Cowboys came up short in their bid to give the Southland Conference its first Sweet 16 team since Louisiana Tech in 1985.

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