Marshall Henderson goes up for a shot during Saturday’s 91-88 win over Missouri.
Alex Edwards I The Daily Mississippian
Last season, Ole Miss snapped an 11-year NCAA tournament drought as the Rebels captured the Southeastern Conference Tournament title and came within one bucket of reaching the Sweet Sixteen. Now, Ole Miss is coming off a 91-88 win over Missouri Saturday, and it sits third in the SEC standings and on the bubble for a chance at back-to-back trips to the Big Dance.
And it is all because of Marshall Henderson.
Ole Miss isn’t supposed to be here again. The Rebels lost three key seniors: Murphy Holloway, Reggie Buckner and Nick Williams. Those were leading scorers No. 2, 3 and 5 from last season.
Yes, Jarvis Summers is having an unbelievable season, and LaDarius White – 16 points on just six shots against Missouri – Sebastian Saiz and Anthony Perez have all taken strides as role players. But it is all about that 6-foot-2, 177-pound shooter.
He attempts an NCAA-leading 11.95 threes per game; he’s making 37.2 percent of them. He nearly shot Ole Miss to an upset of 10th-ranked Oregon early in the season, and he put Missouri in flames by draining six of eight first-half threes, which led Ole Miss to a first-half points per possession of 1.47. He finished with 29 points on eight of 15 shooting from behind the arc.
“Everybody knows that when Marshall is on fire we need to give him the ball,” Saiz said.
And for Ole Miss, it is all about feeding the fire.
“Some guy in the front row behind me said, ‘Shoot it, Marshall!’ That’s all I need to hear,” Henderson said of a three he nailed in the second half against Missouri.
But to call Henderson just a shooter isn’t fair to what he brings to a bubble team in Ole Miss. He dished out five assists against Missouri and forced the Tigers to completely change their defense.
“We adjusted there in the second half and emergency switched out on him to keep him from catching the ball,” Missouri head coach Frank Haith said.
Emergency. Henderson forced the Tigers into an emergency defense. How many players in the SEC can force a defense to make change that their coach calls an emergency?
“Here’s what happens when you play Ole Miss,” Mississippi State head coach Rick Ray said after Henderson scored 19 points in an Ole Miss 82-63 win earlier this season. “It’s really a four-on-four game. Because when Marshall Henderson’s out there, you can’t help off him.”
Henderson creates space for his teammates by just being on the floor. Summers isn’t having his career-best season if he isn’t playing alongside Henderson.
One of Ole Miss’ favorite plays is to run a pick and roll for Summers with Henderson in the corner. Summers drives to Henderson’s side, but defenses are not coming unglued to Henderson, so Summers has tons of space to attack the basket.
Perez got a wide-open dunk in transition against Missouri because Henderson went to pull up for a three and that drew the Tiger defender out of lane. Henderson dumped to Perez for the easy score all because the defense was worried about a 3-pointer on a two-on-one fast break.
We all know about Henderson’s passion. The passion that leads to opponents hating him but also leads to Ole Miss playing its best.
“I know Marshall Henderson gets beat up a lot,” South Carolina head coach Frank Martin said earlier this season. “But I’m telling you, he’s one of my favorite players. His charisma, his enthusiasm, the way he elevates his team in difficult moments is special.”
His energy, his shooting and his playmaking ability led Ole Miss to its biggest win of the season, as the Rebels knocked off the Tigers Saturday. According to BracketMatrix.com, which compiles all of the online bracketology websites, before Saturday, Missouri was the last team in, and Ole Miss was the eighth team out.
Expect that to change, and expect Ole Miss to keep riding Marshall Madness. He is the reason Ole Miss basketball is relevant.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss men’s basketball, follow @Tyler_RSR and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
