FAYETTEVILLE — It is back.

The return of Hawgball was obvious Saturday with one slight change. Now, it is 40 minutes of Pel, which in many ways is perspiringly close to 40 minutes of hell.

An hour before Florida and Arkansas tipped off in a critical SEC matchup, there were more fans than tickets.

Two, three and four fingers waved in the sunshine outside the great venue known as Bud Walton Arena. The hope was finding someone, anyone, who didn’t have time to be a hogcalling maniac.

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Few of those, if any, found their loyalty rewarded Saturday as an outrageous Razorbacks nation roared their Hogs to victory.

The Razorbacks never trailed, taking a 10-8 lead off the only tie when Sonny Weems drove the baseline and slammed down a one-handed dunk.

The home team responded, and while the Razorbacks shot very well, 32 of 59 from the floor (54. 2 percent ), it was still their defense that made the difference, and the two biggest differencemakers were Patrick Beverley and Steven Hill.

By the end, Beverley, who f inished with a game-high 12 rebounds, 8 points and 3 assists, had been like a plague on defense, smothering the Gators with hot hands and quick feet.

Hill finished with only two blocks, but he altered so many shots the Gators started lofting some hopeless prayers and jacked 25 three-pointers trying to get points on the board. They shot only 33. 3 percent from the field, including 16 percent on threes.

For those who have wondered, that’s why Hill starts. He is a force in the middle on defense.

All the while, 19, 981 heartily enthusiastic fans showed their appreciation for the efforts of the team — and that’s what the Razorbacks were as they had a rare game with more assists (19 ) than turnovers (14 ).

John Pelphrey has been preaching teamwork since he arrived on campus, and when the team listens, it wins.

Florida came in riding a three-game winning streak, ranked No. 20, but became the second consecutive ranked team to find no offensive answers for the Razorbacks’ breath-stealing defense.

This was a game that had a little of everything on offense — six three-pointers, rim-ringing rebound slams, several alley-oop dunks and rebound tips.

It even had an introduction of Arkansas’ new football coach, Bobby Petrino, who led the loud crowd, which included several of his key recruits, in a reverberating hog call.

The game was also a showdown of sorts between teacher, Billy Donovan, and student, Pelphrey, and the Arkansas head coach proved he had paid close attention during his days as an assistant at Florida and Marshall.

Pelphrey knows how Donovan operates, and so the Razorbacks’ leader was practically in overdrive, demanding explanations from the officials and questioning their vision.

He was so animated, so intense, he got an official warning — one more and you get a technical foul — from Tracy Woodson.

Pelphrey got close several more times, but with this game hugely important, he never went over the line.

This was the second consecutive quality victory for the Razorbacks, and the dividend should be paid when the newest batch of RPI numbers are released.

The victories came because of hard, physical play, especially on defense.

Razorbacks dove to the floor with reckless abandon for loose balls, and they didn’t quit even when they led by 30.

Give the young Gators credit; they never gave up, either. And they will be making lots more noise in March than they did here Saturday.

Yet, they couldn’t get on track in the paint, getting only 28 points down low while the Razorbacks pounded them for 44.

With Hill, Weems, Beverley and Charles Thomas blocking shots and altering others, and the perimeter defense strong, that makes for a winning formula.

Hawgball is back.