TEMPE - In a battle between speed and muscle, Arizona proved that speed kills.

Arizona's quickness was too much for physical sixth-seeded Iowa to handle, and the No. 3 seeded Wildcats (26-6) advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with an 87-73 win yesterday. The Wildcats will meet second-seeded Kansas on Friday in Denver in the West Regional semifinals.

Arizona, in front of a partisan crowd of 12,441 at Arizona State University's Activity Center, was in control of the game almost from the opening tip and was able to exploit the Hawkeyes' fullcourt press for several fast-break opportunities as well as beat Iowa players to rebounds.

"Our quickness was obviously a key for us," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "We are a good team against the press, and for what (Iowa) got out of it, we got more with two-on-one and three-on-two situations."

The Wildcats had only 12 turnovers, despite facing 40 minutes of pressure, but Arizona's success on the glass was easily the most surprising aspect of the game. The Hawkeyes (23-9) came in as the nation's fourth-best rebounding team, averaging 40.7 rebounds per game, but it was the Wildcats who owned the boards 42-36 with balanced rebounding from all positions. That, and Arizona's ability to harass the Hawkeyes on defense throughout the game, kept the Wildcats in front.

"We knew if we got the rebounds, we knew we could beat them," said Arizona guard Miles Simon, who was one of six UA players in double figures with 15 points. "I think our defensive intensity won the game. If we come out there and play hard defensively, I think we're a very tough team to beat."

As usual, it was Ben Davis and Reggie Geary who led the way for Arizona € Davis with game-highs of 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Geary with 16 points, a career-high 13 assists and just one turnover.

"Today was a good game. I was fortunate guys were knocking down shots," Geary said.

Olson, seated beside Geary during postgame interviews, was a bit more excited about the senior's play.

"Unbelievable," he described it. He then turned to Geary and added, "I didn't realize you could handle it that well."

The Hawkeyes, who overcame a 17-point deficit in the final eight minutes to beat George Washington 81-79 Friday, did not panic when the Wildcats opened up a 46-27 lead late in the first half. Iowa kept chipping away at the deficit, cutting it to 66-59 on a Mon'ter Glasper 3-pointer with 8:30 to play.

But the Wildcats turned up the defense and created three fast breaks off two steals and a block to build a 76-62 cushion with six minutes left. The Hawkeyes could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way, and failed to score in the final 2:38.

With a nine-point UA lead in the final minutes, Joe McLean drove to the basket, pumped and threw up a seven-foot shot while falling down. The play seemed to break the will of the Hawkeyes and brought Olson to his knees, screaming and pumping his fists on the sideline.

"They are a quick, athletic team, and they're as quick a team as you're going to see in the Tournament," said Iowa head coach Tom Davis, whose teams have been knocked out in the second round of the last four trips to the Tournament.

Iowa was paced by All-Big Ten forward Jess Settles, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound junior who had 13 points and 12 rebounds and typified the Hawkeye team with his physical play.

"We probably didn't shut them down as good as we could have, but that's the sign of a good team," Settles said. "You've got to rebound well to win games in this tournament."

UA advanced to the second round with a 90-51 pounding of 14th-seeded Valparaiso on Friday night. Michael Dickerson led the way with 22 points as the Wildcats set a school NCAA Tournament record by shooting 59.7 percent from the field.