Ole Miss easy win offensive to Vols

Posted: Thursday, January 10, 2013 7:00 pm

By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Mississippi wanted to prove a point to anyone who argued the Rebels’ fast start was the product of a soft nonconference schedule.
Consider the message delivered.
Southeastern Conference scoring leader Marshall Henderson had a career-high 32 points Wednesday night as Mississippi trounced Tennessee 92-74 in the league opener for both teams, giving the Rebels their first road victory over the Volunteers in 22 years.
Mississippi (12-2) had lost 11 straight times to Tennessee in Knoxville since a 93-88 triumph on Feb. 27, 1991.
“I knew it would be different,” Henderson said. “In conference (play), everything gets magnified a little more, especially in the SEC. Coming to Tennessee, I pretty much had this game circled. I was anxious to get to this game.”
Henderson entered the night averaging 18.2 points per game and was ranked second nationally with 4.0 3-pointers per game. The 6-foot-2 junior missed his first eight 3-point attempts Wednesday, but he heated up midway through the second half and continually worked his way to the free-throw line.
“I never lose confidence,” Henderson said. “I could go 0-for-25 and it’s still going up.”
Henderson made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to break the game open. As he got hotter, he also got louder while celebrating Tennessee’s most one-sided home loss since a 90-72 setback against Kentucky on Jan. 13, 2009.
“At the end of the game, they were laughing and having fun,” Tennessee guard Jordan McRae said. “It’s embarrassing.”
McRae scored 26 points for the second straight game to match his career high. Jarnell Stokes added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee (8-5), which closed a six-game home stand with its second consecutive loss.
Jarvis Summers had 16 points and Reginald Buckner and Murphy Holloway each recorded double-doubles for Mississippi. Buckner had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Holloway added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
This game had shaped up as a confrontation between Mississippi’s high-powered scoring attack and Tennessee’s tenacious defense.
Mississippi headed into conference play leading the SEC with 83.1 points per game, which ranked the Rebels fifth nationally in scoring offense. Tennessee was yielding 58.8 points per game to rank second in the league in scoring defense.
Published in The Messenger 1.10.13