Where to place ‘No posts’ else statement.

In the example below, how/where can I place ‘else echo ‘<p>(No posts match the criteria.)</p>’;’ code

<?php

// Set the 'paged' parameter (use 'page' if the query is on a static front page).
$paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) : 1;

// Args for the query.
$args = array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'posts_per_page' => 5,
'paged' => $paged
);

// The query.
$the_query = new WP_Query( $args );

// The Loop
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {

// Paginate (place between if and while).
echo '<p>' . get_previous_posts_link('&laquo; Newer', $the_query->max_num_pages) . str_repeat('&nbsp;', 2) . get_next_posts_link('Older &raquo;', $the_query->max_num_pages) . '</p>' . "\n\n" ;

echo '<ul>';

while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
$the_query->the_post();
echo '<li>' . get_the_title() . '</li>';
} // end while

echo '</ul>';

// Paginate (place between while and if).
echo '<p>' . get_previous_posts_link('&laquo; Newer', $the_query->max_num_pages) . str_repeat('&nbsp;', 2) . get_next_posts_link('Older &raquo;', $the_query->max_num_pages) . '</p>' . "\n\n" ;

} // end if

// reset.
wp_reset_postdata();

?>