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Forgettable day made bearable by Hannahs

Arkansas guard Dusty Hannahs (3) shoots the ball during an SEC Tournament game against Florida on Thursday, March 10, 2016, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The best team won, but not the best player.

Dusty Hannahs had an All-SEC Tournament performance, scoring 33 points, on a day when his Arkansas Razorback teammates struggled against an aggressive, hard-nosed Florida defense. The Hogs lost 68-61 to finish the season at 16-16.

It wasn't like Hannahs backed up to 25 feet and nailed a bunch of threes like Razorback fans have seen him do this season.

The Gators were focused on not letting Hannahs or Anthlon Bell beat them from the perimeter. When that duo is scoring from the outside, Moses Kingsley scores more on the inside.

Hannahs quickly realized what was happening and started showing off a part of his game of which we have seen just glimpses this season.

He can create shots. He hit floaters, short jumpers and layups to go along with the Razorbacks' only two three-pointers.

He scored with his left hand, his right hand and, if necessary, he would have scored with both.

Hannahs, who worked his way into the starting lineup this season, took only three breathers in the game. The Razorbacks scored a total of eight points in the eight minutes he was off the court. That's how much he affected the flow of the game.

No one knew better than Florida Coach Mike White about what Hannahs could do. In the Gators' 87-83 victory on Feb. 3 in Gainesville, Hannahs scored 20, but White knew long before that.

White was the head coach at Louisiana Tech when he traveled to Pulaski Academy to recruit Hannahs hard.

"We knew what he was capable of," White said after the game. "That was a phenomenal performance. Really, just amazing."

Hannahs signed with Billy Gillispie at Texas Tech, survived one season with Gillispie before his firing and a year under Tubby Smith, then transferred closer to home with the Razorbacks.

The Hogs defense was good enough to have survived and advanced.

They held the Gators to 38.9 percent shooting from the floor and no baskets from the 8:53 mark until 3:06. Hannahs scored nine consecutive points to cut the Florida lead to 56-53 with 5:03 to play.

The Gators had used a storm of threes to lead by 11, but they struggled from the free-throw line and from long range after Mike Anderson got the Hogs' attention about perimeter defense. After Kingsley broke his 0-5 drought at the free-throw line with a pair, Anton Beard hit a jumper, and Hannahs got two on a goal-tending call after a driving layup to make it 60-59 with 1:09 to play.

It appeared the momentum had swung in favor of the Hogs, but Kasey Hill -- who came off the bench to lead the Gators in scoring with 18 -- hit a layup. Beard, who was desperate to make something happen for the Hogs with the shot clock winding down, was called for charging, and the Gators made their final four free throws, got a dunk and advanced.

Other than Hannahs, the Razorbacks were 10 of 38 from the field -- missing 24 shots within 10 feet of the goal -- and made just 15 of 25 free throws. That's not a winning formula.

Yet, the Hogs never quit. They scraped and clawed on defense until the final buzzer.

On a day when Hannahs had an All-SEC Tournament game, the Razorbacks were one and done.

Hannahs has two chances of being named to the All-SEC Tournament team: slim and none. But his performance will go down in the Razorback history books, and White and the Gators won't soon forget the nightmare he caused them.

Sports on 03/11/2016