FAYETTEVILLE — The best measure of how well a Senior Day went can sometimes be best ascertained in how well the post-game press conference goes.
Arkansas seniors Dusty Hannahs, Manny Watkins and Moses Kingsley all took turns cracking jokes on each other soon after the Razorbacks hammered Georgia 85-67 Saturday afternoon before 16,055 fans at Bud Walton Arena.
Hannahs even broke out a reference the movie 'The Notebook,' an apparent tear-jerker, when talking about the trio’s emotions before the game.
“(Arkansas head) Coach (Mike Anderson) always talks to the seniors and says a little something about them and what he thinks about them,” Hannahs said. “He came to me, Moses and Manny and me and Moses were cool.
“We were good, and then Manny just, you know, the waterworks and the slobber and the snot was just all over the locker room. That was really the emotion. It was really emotional at that point.
“Me and Mo were ready to hoop and then my man watched 'The Notebook' right before the senior night.”
Kingsley, Hannahs and junior Jaylen Barford all had 15 points for Arkansas (23-8, 12-6) while Watkins added 12 and claimed his waterworks didn’t happen and he’s never seen The Notebook.”
“It was about the win,” Watkins said. “ Out of these guys, I’m the strong (one)… I have to keep my emotions because these guys can get kinda (loud noises), crying and stuff, so I kinda have to keep it level.
“I had to let them know that it’s not about us, stop crying, we’re good, let’s win this game and I got them focused. We took care of business.”
Arkansas had lost its last two Senior Day games.
“My redshirt year we lost Senior Day and last year we lost Senior Day,” Hannahs said. “ It was just big. A great crowd and 1 o'clock game. It was just fun we went and took care of business. It was been a real tough, long day if you don't take care of business.
“But how we did it took away the bitter part of it, it's just sweet right now. I'm just really excited how this team has done and faced adversity.”
Kingsley echoed the same sentiment.
“Like Manny emphasized it’s about the win,” Kingsley said. “It’s not about us, it’s about getting the win. We knew we needed this win to get where we wanted to go. We came in after all the stuff we did before the game started, we got focused and then got the job done.”
The win - which also featured Kingsley grabbing nine rebounds and junior Trey Thompson eight - is viewed as one that cemented Arkansas second trip in three years to the NCAA Tournament.
It is something Hannahs couldn’t help but celebrate when grabbing the microphone to address the crowd after the game.
"We haven't talked about the postseason and all that, but we want to let you all know we're going dancing!" Hannahs said.
It was called Senior Day, but might as well have been known as Upperclassman Day as Anderson only played his nine seniors and juniors until freshmen C.J. Jones and Adrio Bailey checked in with 2:23 left in the game.
That group believes that it has returned “Hawgball” - a moniker harkening back to the glory days of Arkansas basketball - to the Razorback program.
“What I wanted to do when I came here was get Hawgball back to where it was when the tournament was even in the conversation,” noted Watkins, who turned down Division I scholarship offers to walk on at Arkansas before earning a scholarship. “It was a given and it was going for national championships. We just wanted to keep building that foundation and to all those kids out there who become big-time players and are considering Arkansas, I think you would be stupid not to.
“Honestly, this has been the best experience of my life and Hawgball is back and it is here to stay. Stick with it because it is back.”
Hannahs, who spent his first two years at Texas Tech before the option came open to transfer to Arkansas, echoed the sentiment.
He redshirted as Arkansas went 27-9 in 2014-2015, was key part of last season's 16-16 team and obviously a main cog in this year’s success. Arkansas has won six of its last seven games after losing 3 of 4 and falling to 17-7.
“Last year was really tough,” Hannahs said. “We had a stretch this year. I'm sure some of you threw out a few tweets that said we were dead in the water. Look at us now. It feels really good because these guys right next to me going through the toughness of going 16-16. We were together the whole offseason going to Spain. Moses came back for us to win and it worked. I thank you for coming back.
“This has been awesome. I'm really excited to go get this one, but we still have the SEC Tournament in front of us. I know I said that, but we'll try to get that automatic bid too.”
Kingsley is also focused on the SEC Tournament next week in Nashville.
The Razorbacks will play Friday as either a No. 3 seed or a No. 4 one depending on the result of Saturday night’s game between South Carolina and host Ole Miss.
“We just have to enjoy this one,” Kingsley said. “I know I am going to enjoy it. Then get ready for the next practice. It would feel good to win the SEC Tournament. Don't just stop here.”