In the lane

It’s Tad too dark for Hogs

The overhead scoreboard and emergency lights illuminate the court after the main lights went out at the main lights at the C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game between Arkansas and Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Oxford Eagle, Bruce Newman)
The overhead scoreboard and emergency lights illuminate the court after the main lights went out at the main lights at the C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game between Arkansas and Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Oxford Eagle, Bruce Newman)

— Arkansas and Ole Miss had halftime in the first half of their game Saturday.

The Rebels, who won 76-64, were leading 24-21 with 5:37 left in the first half when the Tad Smith Coliseum lights went dark as the result of a campus-wide power outage.

Power wasn’t quickly restored, so both teams went to their locker rooms. The game resumed after a 22-minute delay, though there were two more delays of a few seconds when the buzzer went off, causing Ole Miss officials to turn off the overhead scoreboard.

“It was kind of a bizarre game from that standpoint,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said of the lengthy delay. “I’m talking to the officials saying, ‘Hey, we need our team in the locker room,’ and they’re saying, ‘No, you’ve got to stay out here.’

“What are we going to do for 20 minutes? Sit out here and listen to the music and look at the fans? No. So we went to the locker room.”

Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell said he tightened up in the locker during the delay.

“It’s like the whole energy level on our team felt different when we came back out,” Powell said. “But we tried to fix it, and we fought back. We just couldn’t pull it out.”

Ole Miss outscored the Razorbacks 10-5 the final 5:20 of the first half after play resumed to take a 34-26 halftime lead. The Razorbacks tied the game twice in the second half before Ole Miss pulled away.

“I thought it had an effect on our team,” Anderson said of the delay. “Not to take anything away from Ole Miss. I thought they played well. They did what they had to do.”

Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said he didn’t believe the delay was an advantage for either team.

“It is what it is what it is,” he said. “You’ve got to be prepared for most anything. For us, I just wanted to get to [victory] No. 15 by any means necessary.”

Young frustrated

Sophomore guard BJ Young scored 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting and had 4 turnovers. Several times when he failed to finish on drives to the basket, Young yelled at the officials, wanting a foul call.

“I thought Ole Miss did a good job of compacting at the basket ... and obviously on the road, there are some things that aren’t going to take place,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said when asked about Young’s frustration. “We want to get to the free-throw line, attack the basket.”

Young hit 2 of 4 free throws, but given his reaction to the officials, it appeared he thought he should have had more attempts.

“I’m sure there were some things he wanted to take place that didn’t take place,” Anderson said. “That’s the nature of the road.”

Teed off, teed up

Ole Miss forward Reginald Buckner was called for a flagrant foul when he elbowed Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell in the second half.

Powell made a move toward Buckner after catching the elbow before officials intervened.

“It was on purpose for sure,” Powell said of Buckner’s elbow. “Of course, if you get hit, you’re going to want to hit somebody back to be honest.

“I wasn’t really aiming to do anything [physically]. I was just letting him know I’m here and I ain’t going nowhere.”

Powell hit both free throws resulting from the flagrant foul, then scored a basket on Arkansas’ possession to pull the Razorbacks within 50-48.

Starts with Arkies

Arkansas used to have a 32-6 series lead against Ole Miss. Now the Razorbacks’ advantage is 41-30.

The Rebels are 24-9 against the Razorbacks since sweeping the homeand-home games during the 1996-1997 season, when Ole Miss was led by Arkansans Keith Carter, Jason Smith and Anthony Boone.

“We had a little extra motivation when we played Arkansas with all the guys we had from the state,” said Carter, who is now working as a fund-raiser for the Ole Miss athletic department and is a color analyst on the Rebels’ radio broadcast. “We got things going, and it was a lot of fun.”

Too many turnovers

Arkansas had 19 turnovers at Ole Miss after having eight in its 50-minute game against Auburn, including three in the second half and two overtime periods.

“Our inability to take care of the ball, I thought that really cost us,” Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said.

Sports, Pages 22 on 01/20/2013

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