It seemed obvious that Mike Anderson got his team's attention after the discouraging loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Wednesday night against Alabama, the Razorbacks were not the same team that stood around and watched the Cowboys dunk and make layups.
On paper, the Crimson Tide looked like a trap game.
They had gone 8-3 after a 5-5 start and were a game up on the Razorbacks in the SEC standings. Now, after the 87-68 win, the Hogs are tied for fourth in the SEC with Alabama and own the tiebreaker.
The No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament is a great place to be because 1-4 seeds don't play until Friday, meaning any opponent will have played at least one game the day before, maybe two in two days.
Granted, the No. 4 seed likely faces the No. 1 seed the next day, presumably Kentucky, but it should also mean that by making the semifinals they are in the NCAA Tournament. And UCLA, Louisville, Tennessee and Kansas have proven Kentucky can be beaten.
Wednesday night, the Hogs looked like a March Madness team, taking control on Dusty Hannahs' shooting and never looking back.
Hannahs was the high scorer in the game with 19 points, and he missed only two shots.
Some are questioning why the leading scorer -- who also led the team in scoring last season -- and a senior is logging the fourth most minutes.
If Anderson wanted to give an answer, all he would have to do is point at the 17-5, 6-3 record, but he probably would admit a big part of that record is because of Hannahs.
Of course, Hannahs didn't win the game by himself. It was much more of a team effort than the showing against OSU, when the Hogs had seven assists.
Against Alabama, led by Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon with four each, the Hogs had 18 assists. Eight players had at least one.
Moses Kingsley had 15 points (11 of 12 on free throws), Barford 13, Macon 12 and Manny Watkins 10. Arkansas' bench outscored Alabama's bench 40-23, and the Hogs got 28 points off 18 Crimson Tide turnovers.
That's the kind of play that makes the Razorbacks an NCAA Tournament team.
Tywanna Smith, a former MVP of the Arkansas High School All-Star game and four-year starter for Ole Miss, has a book coming out, Surviving the Lights: A Professional Athlete's Playbook to Avoiding the Curse.
A former professional athlete and owner of an MBA as well as years of experience as a business manager for pro athletes, Smith has written a guide to help young people and their parents prepare for things such as the agent process, and pre-draft and post-collegiate experiences.
The book will be on sale March 1. More information is available at survivingthelights.com.
Not every sports hero has to play the game. Take Jimmy Faulkner, for instance, who for more than 40 years has coached the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church's youth basketball team.
In 1994 when the league, consisting of 20 congregations, moved to Pulaski Heights, Jimmy became the league's coordinator.
He's touched thousands of lives, and he doesn't have an enemy in the world. He's a longtime investment banker with Crews and Associates with a heart for giving.
A couple of weeks ago, Jimmy was honored by several of his former players who established the Jimmy Faulkner Basketball Scholarship, and to make it even more special for the tireless leader, it was announced during church services.
Sports on 02/03/2017