Photo By Ignacio Murillo | The Daily Mississippian
Upon Marshall Henderson’s return Sebastian Saiz called him the team’s “salvation”, but against LSU, Saiz was the difference. The Spaniard was the salvation in Ole Miss’ 88-74 overtime win Wednesday night.
“He was making moves tonight,” Henderson said of Saiz. “I haven’t really seen him make those moves. He was spinning and slamming on people. I know that’s going to be good for his confidence.”
Saiz scored a career-high 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He knocked down 4 of 5 free throws, grabbed nine rebounds and added two assists and two steals.
“We finally got a post guy to finish at the basket,” head coach Andy Kennedy said. “We won a battle of the glass against a team that was in the tops of our league in rebounding.”
LSU (10-5, 1-2 SEC) came into the game third in the Southeastern Conference in rebounding; Ole Miss (11-5, 2-1 SEC) was 13th. But the Rebels grabbed 49 rebounds to LSU’s 41, including 34 defensive rebounds to LSU’s 15 offensive.
This was not the game that the Ole Miss frontline was supposed to break out. Not against Johnny O’Bryant and LSU’s massive rotation – at one point the Tigers had four forwards all six-foot-seven or taller on the court.
But Saiz led the charge. He had a monster block on O’Bryant and got some help from Aaron Jones, who had 13 rebounds and two blocks himself.
Ole Miss held O’Bryant, the Tigers leading scorer, to 1 of 5 shooting and six points. Ole Miss kept the nation’s leader in post ups away from the basket as the Rebels played a 2-3 zone defense the majority of the game.
LSU held a five-point lead with 1:25 to play, But a layup off of a slipped screen by Aaron Jones and a mid-range jumper from Jarvis Summers tied the game at 69.
LSU held for the last shot and had Anthony Hickey in an isolation with Henderson. Hickey, who finished the night 4 of 16 form the field, missed what would have been another heart-breaking loss at the buzzer.
Ole Miss then steamrolled LSU in overtime. The Rebels outscored LSU 19-5 in the extra five minutes, and the Tigers shot 2 of 10 from the field, while Ole Miss was 5 of 6 from the floor and 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
Photo By Ignacio Murillo | The Daily Mississippian
Henderson – and his antics – led Ole Miss with 25 points. His return created the atmosphere that only a Marshall Henderson fall-away-and-one three pointer can create.
“When Marshall is scoring a crazy shot, he brings the whole team up, the whole crowd up,” Saiz said.
And Henderson, who has been calmer this season, unleashed his celebrations.
“I can’t do this anymore, just be calm. It’s hurting me,” Henderson said. “It’s weird. I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry, I’m going back to me because we need it.”
Andre Stringer scored 23 for the Tigers. Most of his opportunities came from hitting threes against the Ole Miss zone. He finished 5 of 8 on threes.
Jones had a double-double for Ole Miss, 13 points and 13 rebounds; Jarvis Summers also scored 20 points, as three Rebels eclipsed the 20-point plateau.
Summers had eight assists, Henderson added seven, as Ole Miss assisted on 22 of 28 made field goals.
Next up for Ole Miss is South Carolina, as the Rebels will travel to Columbia, S.C., on Saturday.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Tyler Bischoff
tfbischo@go.olemiss.edu
