Charles Thomas pulled his jersey up and over his face to hide the tears of frustration and disappointment.

The Arkansas Razorbacks had just lost to Appalachian State, 74-67, in front of a rousing crowd in Alltel Arena.

The victory, most likely their biggest of the season, evened the Mountaineers’ record at 5-5 and gave the basketball team some bragging rights close to those of the football team, which knocked off Michigan on the road earlier this year.

Forget the officiating. It was not very good, but the SEC crew was not one-sided in its misjudgments and mistakes.

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This was a team loss for the Razorbacks, and it was not an alien scenario.

No, not turnovers this time, but poor shooting.

The Hogs trailed 63-57 with 4: 14 to play after a pair of free throws by Appalachian State, which went 12 for 12 from the stripe for the game while the Razorbacks were a horrendous 8 of 19 from the line at that point.

Yet Darian Townes made four in a row, and with 1: 44 to play, the Razorbacks were down two and had the Mountaineers right where they wanted them.

Alltel Arena was like the old Barnhell days, roaring. A bomb could have gone off and no one would have heard it, and they might not have noticed.

The Mountaineers stuck to their second-half game plan, however, getting a three-pointer with five seconds on the shot clock, making four more free throws and dancing out with the victory.

Understand that they shot 66. 7 percent from the floor (they took 18 fewer shots and made three more ), 50 percent on threepointers and of course 100 percent from the free-throw line.

The Hogs ?

Let’s see, 41. 7 percent overall, 27. 3 percent from the three-point line and 56 percent from the freethrow line.

They were outrebounded 33-22, and it doesn’t matter who you are playing, on most days that will get you beat.

This game had nothing to do with preparation. New Coach John Pelphrey had the right game plan and simply ended up with a lack of execution, especially late in the first half.

The Razorbacks led 21-16 with 8: 52 to play in the half and were outscored down the stretch 25-12 to trail at intermission, 41-33.

They started the second half like they finished the first, missing their first five shots, and were down 47-33 when Gary Ervin ignited a team and the crowd, allowing the Razorbacks to pull within two with a chance to win.

Ervin put pressure on the ball, which is what he does best, forced a turnover and Alltel came alive as the Hogs fed off the crowd.

After the Hogs went on a 7-0 run, Appalachian State Coach Houston Francher was forced to take two timeouts in 18 seconds, and he instructed his team to milk the clock on every possession.

It did, killing around 30 seconds on almost every possession before attempting a shot.

The Razorbacks fell into the trap, and for most of the second half, the Mountaineers controlled the tempo.

Understand, 40 minutes of Pel, with the squad he has right now, is very much like Nolan Richardson’s Hawgball.

Their defense is their offense.

These Razorbacks are much better in transition than in a half-court offense, and Saturday they allowed themselves to be lulled into a slower game than they need.

There were a couple of bright spots on a rainy afternoon.

Freshman Marcus Britt came off the bench and played very well. In 17 minutes, he had five timely steals, two assists and no turnovers.

And the loss was not the end of the world.

It is easy to see that this team — and it starts with the seniors — is more unified and determined.

Good plays and bad plays were met with pats on the back and encouragement.

A year ago, you didn’t have that.

Thomas, a senior, even asked to not start Saturday so Little Rock native and fellow senior Vincent Hunter could in his final appearance in his hometown.

Those are things that can make a difference for a team, one that took the loss hard and blamed only itself.