ATLANTA — A slow start and slow finish ended Arkansas’ Southeastern Conference Tournament run Sunday as the Razorbacks fell 66-57 to Georgia in the league championship game.

The Bulldogs (17-16 ) became the first team since Arkansas in 2000 and just the third team in league history to win four games in the tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as the league’s automatic qualifier despite a 4-12 record in conference play entering the weekend.

“ We knew what was at stake, ” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. “ Georgia was just better than us tonight. ”

The Razorbacks never led and trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half. Georgia, playing its third game in less than 28 hours, showed no signs of fatigue out of the gates, staking a 30-11 lead with 8: 18 to go before the intermission.

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“ I think Georgia was more ready to play than we were, ” Arkansas senior forward Sonny Weems said. “ They came out with a lot of intensity and wanted it more than we did. ”

Georgia hit three treys to fuel the first half run. The Bulldogs finished the game 7-of-15 from beyond the arc, while Arkansas struggled to 2-of-17 shooting from downtown.

“ I thought some of them were rushed, ” Pelphrey said of Arkansas ’ shooting. “ It’s tough against [Georgia ] because they make it so hard to get to the basket. If you make perimeter shots it loosens things up. Unfortunately for us tonight that was the difference in the game. ”

Despite the lack of outside shooting, Arkansas cut the Bulldog lead to 36-26 at halftime, thanks in large part to a strong first half finish by Weems, who finished tied with a team-high 17 points for the Razorbacks, including 11 at the break.

Arkansas (22-11 ) continued to cut into the lead in the second half, pulling to within 38-32 before the first media timeout after the break.

But Georgia answered with a run of its own, outscoring the Hogs 13-4 to take a 51-36 lead midway through the second half.

Arkansas would respond out of a timeout, using a 13-3 run over a 1: 42 span capped by a Gary Ervin 3-pointer to pull within 54-49 with 5: 43 to play.

Arkansas continued to narrow the gap to 56-53 on a Weems lay-in with 4: 19 to play, but could get no closer.

The Bulldogs grabbed a number of offensive rebounds in the final four minutes, one of which led to a 3-point basket by Billy Humphrey with 1: 27 left to put the Bulldogs up 61-53. For the game, Georgia had 13 offensive rebounds.

“ If you understand Georgia, they have big, huge, physical bodies, ” Pelphrey said. “ When the game gets close like it did today, they can get you extra possessions because of their size. That’s what happened. ”

The offensive boards helped to keep the Razorbacks at bay, as Georgia outscored Arkansas 13-6 in the game’s final 3: 55.

The loss marked the second consecutive year Arkansas fell in the tournament championship game. The Hogs fell 77-56 to Florida in the final last season, a game in which Arkansas was also hampered by a slow start.

“ It’s great we got to the final both years, ” Weems said. “ But we didn’t win the last two years, and that’s what we wanted. ”