ATLANTA (AP) _ It wasn't Arkansas' traditional "40 minutes of hell," but it sure felt like it to Kentucky.

Joe Johnson scored 21 points and Arkansas pulled off the third major upset of the Southeastern Conference tournament with a wire-to-wire 86-72 victory over No. 16 Kentucky on Friday night.

The Razorbacks, the third seed in the West, eliminated one of the four teams that shared the regular season title. Two others, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 11 Florida, also lost in Friday's quarterfinals. Only No. 10 LSU is still alive.

Arkansas (17-14) reached the semifinals _ where its opponent will be LSU _ for the eighth time in nine years.

Kentucky (22-9) had won the last three tournament titles and seven of the last eight, but won't be around for the semifinals for the first time since probation kept it out in 1991.

The Wildcats' fans, the loudest and most loyal of the league who annually turn the Georgia Dome into Rupp Arena South, headed for the exits with four minutes to play.

Johnson, the league's freshman of the year, hit shots from all over the court against Kentucky and forced the Wildcats to double- and triple-team him. That left Teddy Gipson open to nail 3 of 4 attempts from behind the 3-point arc for 16 points.

Brandon Dean and Chris Walker each added 12, and Blake Eddins scored 10.

Keith Bogans, another talented freshman, led Kentucky with 25 points. Jamaal Magloire had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince finished with 15 points despite missing all five of his first-half shots.

The game was a rematch of last year's final, which Kentucky won 76-63.

The Wildcats never had a chance in this one.

Kentucky had a horrible first half _ making just six field goals, committing 16 of their 27 turnovers and allowing Arkansas to grab 11 steals _ and trailed by 20 with 3:00 to play.

But the Wildcats closed the half with a 6-0 run to cut it to 36-22 at the break.

They were more composed at the start of the second half, using a 15-10 run to pull within single digits at 46-37 with 16:43 left.

But Arkansas answered, getting four points from Dean and a 3-pointer from Eddins in a 10-0 burst that created a cushion.

The Razorbacks continued pushing the ball up the court and took their largest lead of the game on a Gipson jumper that made it 60-39 with 11:54 to play.

Kentucky's Saul Smith, who averages almost 29 minutes a game, picked up two early fouls and sat for all but three minutes in the first half. He scored his first points on a layup with 9:40 to play and fouled out with 3:16 left, finishing with five points.