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HawgBeat's coverage of Arkansas' journey in the 2021 NCAA tournament is presented by Wright's Barbecue. Already serving up the best meats in Arkansas, you can now also find Wright's meat rub and sauces at Walmart and Walmart.com.

INDIANAPOLIS — Arkansas’ deepest run in the NCAA Tournament in more than two and a half decades came to an end Monday night.

The Razorbacks couldn’t overcome Baylor’s hot shooting and smothering defense in a 81-72 loss inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, falling a game short of reaching the Final Four.

It couldn’t have gone worse for Arkansas early on. It found itself in an 18-point hole about nine minutes into the game thanks to a scorching start by the Bears, who made 15 of their first 21 shots.

When they finally strung together a few stops, the Razorbacks - which actually shot 62.5 percent in the first half themselves - managed to get back into the game and cut their deficit to 46-38 at halftime.

Arkansas pulled within four a couple of times and had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but Davonte Davis missed a stepback jumper and Desi Sills missed a three-pointer following an offensive rebound.

It was still a six-point game with five minutes remaining, but a MaCio Teague three-pointer - after four straight misses by Arkansas - with 4:48 left proved to be the dagger.

Ultimately, Baylor’s trio of veteran guards were too much for the Razorbacks. Teague led the way with 22 points, while Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell chipped in 14 and 12, respectively.

In what could be his final game in an Arkansas uniform, Moses Moody had one point in the first half and finished with only 11 on 2 of 10 shooting. He was just 6 of 30 in the Razorbacks’ last two games of the season.

JD Notae provided a scoring punch off the bench with 12 first-half points, but finished with only 14 before fouling out on a questionable charge call with 13:38 remaining in the game. Davis also had 14 points, tying Notae for the most on the team.

The Razorbacks end the year with a 25-7 record, while the Bears improve to 26-2 and will face Houston in the Final Four.