PROVIDENCE, R.I. >> Trey Kaufman-Renn had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Purdue used a fast start to roll to a 76-62 win over McNeese in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

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.

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

Painter said the challenge is to sustain the offensive output they’ve had over the first two rounds.

“We can’t go further without playing great offensively,” Painter said. “We have to execute well, we have to shoot the ball well. That’s not really pressure, that’s just a fact.”

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.

McNeese came out in the 2-3 zone that was so successful during its first-round win over Clemson.

But Purdue hit 7 of its first 9 field goals and 3 of its first 4 3-point attempts to build an early double-digit advantage. A pair of three-plus minute scoring droughts by the Cowboys and runs of 10-0 and 9-0 by the Boilermakers helped Purdue grow its lead as high as 36-14 in the first half.

“From the start of the game they kind of imposed their will on us,” Parker said. “To their credit they made shots and we missed shots.”

The Boilermakers led for all but 19 seconds.

Purdue shot 11 of 26 from the 3-point line for the game and held a 41-24 rebounding edge.

“I thought we played really well these last two games,” Kaufman-Renn said. “We executed well and we stuck to our game plan and then we outrebounded both teams. So we do that, it’s a winning game plan.”

ARKANSAS 75, ST. JOHN’S 66 >> John Calipari is heading to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time, guiding the Arkansas Razorbacks past nemesis Rick Pitino and second-seeded St. John’s 75-66 on Saturday to bring his fourth school to the NCAA Tournament’s second week.

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.

Zuby Ejiofor had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Big East champion St. John’s (31-5) — an unprecedented sixth school Pitino has taken to the tournament. His history in Providence — the Friars reached the 1987 Final Four in his tenure — gave him a home-court advantage.

But in a poor-shooting foulfest, Arkansas (22-13) barely did enough to eliminate St. John’s — making the Red Storm the first team seeded No. 4 or higher to exit what’s been a chalky tournament so far.

The teams combined to make four 3-pointers on 41 attempts, with St. John’s shooting 28% from the floor overall. After cutting an eight-point lead with eight minutes left to two, 62-60, the Red Storm missed their last seven 3-point attempts.

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 91-79 on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament.

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 Atlanta to face the Auburn-Creighton winner in the South Region.

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 77-64 victory Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

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 and will play No. 10 seed Arkansas in the West Region semifinals Thursday night in San Francisco.

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.

AUBURN 82, CREIGHTON 70 >> Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said a trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament was no sure thing, and experienced Creighton made his top-seeded team work for it before the Tigers found their defensive mojo in the second half and closed out the ninth-seeded Bluejays 82-70 on Saturday night to reach the Sweet 16.

Tahaad Pettiford scored 16 of his 23 points after halftime and Chad Baker-Mazara added 17 points for Auburn, which held 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 to a 68-54 lead.