In the Lane

Shots find their mark for Rebels

Mississippi forward M.J. Rhett, center, yells after dunking the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

FAYETTEVILLE -- The story of Ole Miss' 96-82 victory late Saturday at Walton Arena was the Rebels' impressive shooting.

Ole Miss connected on 31 of 55 (56.4 percent) shots, shooting that is looking more like a trend against the Razorbacks than an aberration.

"Our defense was really bad in the first half," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said.

Arkansas' SEC opponents were shooting a league-high 49.4 percent heading into the game. After Ole Miss torched the Razorbacks, including 74.1 percent shooting in the first half, SEC opponents have now made 109 of 213 shots (51.2 percent) against Arkansas.

"The ball was just going our way," Ole Miss guard Jarvis Summers said. "Everything was falling."

Home at Walton

Ole Miss' runaway victory was nothing new for Coach Andy Kennedy and the Rebels.

Ole Miss has won five of its last six games at Walton Arena, the lone exception a 110-80 Arkansas victory here last season.

Kennedy improved to 5-3 in games at Walton Arena.

Ole Miss' victories in the previous four games had come by a combined 20 points.

Two whistles

The officiating crew was one man light after lead referee Anthony Jordan pulled a hamstring during warmups. Glenn Tuitt and Marc Ellard worked the game as a two-man crew.

The pace of the game appeared to affect the crew, which called a flurry of fouls but missed a blatant shove on Arkansas' Moses Kingsley while he was going for a dunk. The officials also awarded a three-point shot to Ole Miss in the first half that was changed to a two-pointer at halftime.

Arkansas players Bobby Portis and Michael Qualls said the two-man crew had no impact on the outcome of the game.

"The refs didn't play a part in this game," Portis said. "It was just us not playing good defense at certain times of the game."

Reb hot

Ole Miss opened the game connecting on 8 of 9 shots to open a 20-10 lead. The only miss during the first eight minutes came when Arkansas' Moses Kingsley blocked a Sebastian Saiz shot out of bounds.

The Rebels got an offensive rebound off their second miss and converted it into free-throw attempts. When Stefan Moody missed the second free throw, Ole Miss' Dwight Coleby rebounded and the Rebels eventually cashed in with a four-point possession on Coleby's three-pointer.

Ole Miss missed back-to-back shots only once in the opening half and made 5 of 6 from three-point range (83.3 percent).

Free Ky

Arkansas' Ky Madden continued to impress at the free-throw line, hitting 12 of 14 shooting. Madden made his first 10, then missed two of his last four. The senior guard is now 59 of 65 (.908) on the season.

Three controversy

Ole Miss' first-half fortunes were helped by a play at the 9:02 mark. With the shot clock winding down the ball went out on the perimeter. That's where the Rebels' Martavious Newby threw up a shot from 22 feet and the ball thudded off the backboard and in for a three-pointer.

The officials looked at a replay of the shot and ruled it good, although still photos of the play, which appeared to show the ball still on Newby's hand and the shot clock at zero, were circulating on the Internet before the half ended.

For starters

Mike Anderson went back to a starting lineup of guards Ky Madden, Jabril Durham and Michael Qualls and forwards Moses Kingsley and Bobby Portis, which had been 2-1 with victories over Utah Valley State and at Georgia and a loss at Tennessee.

Skying for two

Ole Miss' 5-10 guard Stefan Moody went high to slam an alley-oop pass from Martavious Newby after Newby stole the ball following a collision by two Razorbacks near mid-court. The dunk gave Ole Miss a 17-10 lead and was part of a 12-0 run that put the Rebels ahead 24-10 at the 11:38 mark.

Empty table

The table typically reserved for the TV play-by-play and color announcer was empty as ESPN elected to have its in-studio talent broadcast the game.

Sports on 01/18/2015