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OPINION | WALLY HALL: Long drought not the way to survive March

Justin Smith made back-to-back field goals for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The problem was they were almost 10 minutes apart, and the Hogs fell to LSU 78-71 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

During that drought, the Razorbacks weren't getting shots.

From the 15:49 mark until a timeout with 9:57 to play, they had two shots and missed them both.

Part of the credit goes to the LSU defense -- which forced 16 turnovers, including 11 in the second half -- but the Razorbacks were unable to create shots.

Not off screens. Not off the dribble.

They got some free throws, but they missed too many of them.

Yet, they never quit.

With a little over seven minutes to play, the Hogs trailed 64-52. It looked like the last song had played in Music City for the Razorbacks.

But the Hogs got after the Tigers and trailed 74-71 with 25 seconds left and possession of the ball.

It was looking like another comeback for these cardiac Razorbacks, who hadn't lost to an SEC opponent since Jan. 16, winning 12 consecutive against conference opponents.

Instead, JD Notae -- the hero of the win over Missouri on Friday night with 27 points off the bench -- suffered his third turnover, and the lights went out on the Hogs in Nashville.

On Saturday, LSU was better for too much of the time.

The Tigers had 17 second-chance points. That's bad.

They had 21 points off Arkansas' 16 turnovers, 10 in the second half.

It didn't start out looking like it was going to be last call for the No. 8 Hogs.

In the first half, Moses Moody was unstoppable. He scored 16 of the Razorbacks' first 29 points. He was 6 of 7 from the floor, including 4 of 4 on three-pointers. But in the last 10:45 of the half, he got only three shots.

Moody didn't do anything different, but LSU did focus on him more and he wasn't getting the ball where he could shoot it like he had been earlier.

He finished with 20 first-half points, but he scored only eight in the second half on only six shots.

That probably wasn't the game plan.

Moody is the go-to guy who got lost in the shuffle.

Smith tried to take up the slack -- and no, he wasn't taking Moody's shots but creating his own with hard drives and rebounds -- by scoring 15 second-half points, but it wasn't enough.

In the second half, the Hogs were 1 of 12 on threes after hitting 5 of 14 in the opening half.

LSU answered every charge the Razorbacks made.

It was a bittersweet end to a streak that has excited the Razorbacks Nation, but the season is not over.

Now the Razorbacks are home and will be watching the NCAA selection show today, not to see if they made it but whether they are a No. 3 or No. 4 seed.

Going into Saturday's games, the experts who predict brackets had Arkansas as a No. 3 seed. Losing to LSU is not going to help.

Still, for the first time in a very long time, the conversation is about the Hogs' seeding, not their bubble status.

The Razorbacks are a very tough matchup for a lot of the teams in the tournament. They play excellent defense, are well coached, and have gained chemistry and confidence with each game during the winning streak.

They just can't lose any of that because of the loss to LSU.

In the NCAA Tournament, the motto is survive and advance. A 10-minute drought with few shots is hard to survive.

What happened and why that happened will be studied long and hard by Eric Musselman and his staff, and later this week the Razorbacks will be ready for March Madness.

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