Week-long respites afforded Ole Miss and Arkansas plenty of rest, but the Razorbacks emerged from the hiatus as the more energized, sharper side Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.

Arkansas channeled its energy toward a 16-2 start that laid the foundation for its 75-69 win. Saturday’s slow start has been a reoccurring theme for Ole Miss when it ventures outside the friendly confines of Tad Smith Coliseum.

The Rebels are 26-2 inside the Tad Pad since the start of last season but 1-11 in conference road games contested over that same time.

“ We didn’t come out mentally ready to play, ” said Chris Warren, Ole Miss’ freshman guard who scored a careerhigh 26 points on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. “ The first four minutes they were stronger and faster than us. We dug ourselves a hole and couldn’t get out of it. We had to work hard to get back in the game, but toward the end we still had a chance to win the game. ”

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Arkansas (17-5, 6-2 ) made seven field goals during the opening eight minutes while Ole Miss (16-5, 3-5 ) missed nine of its first 10 shots. The sluggish start was all too familiar to Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy.

“ I don’t understand it, ” Kennedy said. “ We get to this part of the season, having played in some tough venues, and we came out very timid. I didn’t like the look in our guys’ eyes. We were very passive. ”

Arkansas’ intensity lulled after the 16-2 start but reappeared in enough fits and starts to subdue an Ole Miss comeback that brought the Rebels within three points with less than a minute to play.

“ I think our defense slipped a little bit and we started to take it lightly a little bit, ” said Razorback senior Sonny Weems, who scored a team-high 22 points. “ I think we just kind of slacked off and let down a little bit. ”

Arkansas’ early verve helped it to forge a plus-eight advantage on the boards (47-39 ) against the top rebounding team in the SEC. A 17-10 advantage in second-chance points minimized the Razorbacks’ 39-percent shooting (25 of 64 ) and 59. 4-percent freethrow shooting (19 of 32 ).

Weems missed his first six 3-pointers before finally finding the range at the end of the first half. His 3-point hit from the left corner gave Arkansas a 34-29 lead at intermission.

While Weems ’ shot went astray, his energy enabled him to impact the game in other ways. He was a flurry of activity during the first half, grabbing four rebounds, pilfering two steals and doling out two assists.

“ When my shot wasn’t falling, I tried to do other things to help my team, like going in there and getting rebounds and playing defense, ” Weems said. “ There’s a lot more things you can do to help your team other than scoring. ”