ATHENS, Ga. — It was a little more than midway through the first half Saturday night.

The Arkansas Razorbacks were leading 20-18 when Tracy Pelphrey, John’s wife, passed out bags of candy to the children, Ann-Marie and Jaxson.

Jaxson immediately offered to share with his uncle, Jerry Pelphrey, who had driven down from Tennessee for the game.

It was probably the most unselfish act by anyone wearing a Razorback in Stegeman Coliseum all night.

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Which begins to explain why the Razorbacks ended up trailing 34-27 at the half and losing 82-69.

Yet one thing was becoming clear, and that was why the Razorbacks have so many turnovers (they had nine by halftime ).

They aren’t getting enough assists.

Early in the first half, Patrick Beverley was open in the right corner.

Dribble, dribble, turnover.

Pelphrey almost had a coronary.

Minutes later, Beverley was open in the left corner.

Dribble, dribble, force a pass into the middle for another turnover.

Pelphrey stared in disbelief.

If it wasn’t for a few rare moments, Pelphrey would probably be pulling his hair out by now.

Early in the second half, down 10, Stefan Welsh passed to Beverley, who fed him perfectly on a give-and-go. Finally, Jaxson had a rival for unselfishness.

Unfortunately, the Hogs were on a torrid pace for turnovers and had three in the first four minutes of the second half and trailed 44-33 with 15: 27 to play. That was when Pelphrey came out of his jacket and put his team in a zone.

The man defense wasn’t working.

The zone threw the Bulldogs off, and after a pair of field goals by Darian Townes, Charles Thomas got a loose ball and put it in and Beverley made a steal and went down for the dunk to cut it to 49-42 with 12: 18 to play.

Georgia is a team with only nine scholarship players, and working harder on offense was taking a toll, but seconds later, Beverley picked up his fourth foul and was trying not to hold his injured jaw after the collision.

When he returned, the Hogs trailed 62-49. The Bulldogs had found the range on back-to-back threes.

The Dogs gulped down the fatigue and clicked on all cylinders until the final two minutes, when the senior-laden Hogs closed the gap.

In fact, Arkansas seemed to be in an all-out panic and Pelphrey did some serious substituting quickly, but there was going to be no getting in sync on this snowy night in Georgia.

The Hogs had dug a hole for themselves with sloppy play and an inability to score in the post. The opportunities were there, but for some reason that only they understand, Townes and Thomas feel the need to bounce the ball when they get it and are open, which ended up with them having far too many shots blocked.

It had been three days since they looked this bad. That night, at home, they lost to a less-talented South Carolina team.

The biggest change since the Hogs beat Baylor, Auburn and Alabama is that the Gamecocks and the Bulldogs wanted it more so they played together, as a team.

Saturday night and Wednesday night were not about playing hard. The Hogs gave the effort, but the seniors seem to have habits no one could break in less than a season, and too many seem to think they are shooting for the NBA. If that’s the case, they are shooting themselves out of the league.

These Razorbacks are better than they have played the past two games.

It is up to them, and only them, to decide if they want to be a part of college basketball’s biggest party, the NCAA Tournament, or if they want to go home for spring break.

They are at that point right now, and they have a week to decide what they want: Go to March Madness as a team, or be individual spectators.