This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Kansas City, Mo. • It turns out there is someone who can tone down the taunting and irreverent antics Marshall Henderson is becoming known for.
His name is Marshall Henderson.
Mississippi's flamboyant guard missed 12 of his first 13 shots and was 0 for 6 from 3-point range Friday when he finally connected for a long 3-pointer in a second-round NCAA game against Wisconsin. Then he remained unusually businesslike while scoring the rest of his 19 points and leading the Rebels to a 57-46 victory.
"You can't go a little crazy when you go one for your first 17," said Marshall, the leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference. "I know what I can do and what I can't do, and that's not the time, no."
Henderson's futility reached its zenith with about 12 minutes to go when he fumbled the ball in the Wisconsin back court right into the hands of Sam Dekkar, who raced down the court with Henderson on his shoulder and laid the ball in for a 36-30 Badger lead.
But on Ole Miss' next possession, Henderson hit that 3-pointer, and the game quickly changed character.
"There's no question Marshall Mania affects the psyche of the other team," said Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy. "How can you avoid it? Marshall this, Marshall that. We live with Marshall Mania. So for us, it's normal, another day at the office."
It was the first NCAA tournament win for the Rebels (27-8) in 12 years and snapped a string of six straight first-game wins for the cold-shooting Badgers (23-12), who held a three-point halftime lead after Henderson had scored only two points on one-for-11 shooting.
I's not the first time Henderson's been known to go ice-cold in the first half and erupted in the second.
"He made that first shot and I celebrated," said Kennedy. "We've seen his show before. A lot of guys, you go 0 for 5 and it's going to be a long night. If you go 5 for 5 it's going to be a great night. He's been on both ends of the spectrum. As long as he's taking shots within our offense, our guys understand that. We were getting him looks. Then once he makes one or two, we keep feeding him."
Wisconsin, known for its stout defense, did hold the Rebels to their lowest point total of the year. But the Badgers were a miserable 15 for 59 against the Ole Miss zone defense, including 7 for 30 from beyond the arc. Dakkar had 14 points for Wisconsin.
"We won a lot of close games, beat a lot of good teams," said Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan. "But again, it's not a team that really shot the ball well all year. It happened again."
Murphy Holloway had 10 points and nine rebounds and Reginald Buckner had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Rebels, who will meet the winner of No. 4 seed Kansas State and No. 13 La Salle in the third round of the West Regional on Saturday.
After Buckner missed two free throws and the Rebels rebounded an errant Wisconsin shot, Henderson hit his second 3-pointer before Jared Berggren answered for the Badgers with a 3 of his own.
Holloway put the Rebels ahead to stay with a tip-in and another bucket. Then, after one of Wisconsin's 11 turnovers, Jarvis Summers connected for Ole Miss.
Holloway said the Rebels never lose faith in Henderson.
"I just know whenever I get an offensive rebound or a steal, Marshall is coming to the ball," said Holloway. "So I just look for him every time. He's the player I want to go to."
In Mississippi's previous game, Henderson starred in a come-from-behind 66-63 upset of Florida in the finals of the SEC tournament.
"For me, I'm so proud of the fact this group continues to grind and fight and persevere, which to me is the name of the game," said Kennedy, who won the first NCAA game he coached.
Henderson, whose 88 percent foul shooting led the SEC, hit two free throws at the 5:13 mark for a 45-41 lead, then the two teams swapped turnovers before Buckner pulled down a defensive rebound and Henderson connected on a jumper for a 47-41 lead.
An unsightly first half ended with a Wisconsin turnover and a 25-22 lead for the Badgers.
Wisconsin hit only 4 of its first 17 shots and ended the half 7 for 23 but nevertheless held a 3-point lead because the Rebels were even worse. Ole Miss was only 10 for 32 the first 20 minutes.
Dekkar agreed the Badgers were often their own worst enemy on offense.
"I mean, we had looks," he said. "We had the chances to pull away from thnis team. We were up four and six there a couple of times. We had chances."
Berggren, Wisconsin's career blocks leader, rejected three shots in the first half.
Kansas City, Mo. • John Giannini kept calling timeouts as La Salle's big lead kept slipping away, an 18-point halftime advantage wiped out by fourth-ranked Kansas State's frantic comeback.
The coach's message every time was simple: Keep playing defense.
The Explorers finally answered his challenge.
Jerrell Wright made three foul shots in the final 30 seconds, and the No. 13 seed from the Atlantic 10 buckled down on defense in the closing minutes, allowing the Explorers to polish off a 63-61 upset win Friday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
"Every timeout, every time we came in, he was riding us on defense," said Ramon Galloway, who finished with 19 points for La Salle. "We had a good margin, and they came back and actually took the lead. We had to stick together, dig down deep and get some stops."
LaSalle advanced to a Sunday matchup with Mississippi, which knocked off fifth-seeded Wisconsin 57-46 earlier in the day in a suddenly shredded West Region.
The Wildcats trailed 44-26 at halftime. They rallied to take a 60-58 lead on Jordan Henriquez's layup with 4:54 remaining in the game, but did not score another field goal. In fact, Kansas State managed only one more point — a free throw by the 7-footer with 2:25 left on the clock — the rest of the way.
That gave the Explorers (22-9) the window they needed.
Wright, who scored a game-high 21 points, made his first two clutch free throws to give La Salle a 62-61 lead with 30 seconds left. Henriquez missed in the paint at the other end, and then Wright made the first of two more foul shots with 9.6 seconds to go.
The Wildcats (27-8) raced down court, looking for a tying basket, but guard Angel Rodriguez got hung up in the corner near the Kansas State bench. His off-balance shot over the corner of the backboard missed everything, deflating a partisan crowd that packed the Sprint Center.
Ohio State 95, Iona 70 • In Dayton, Ohio, Sam Thompson had career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds, part of a dominating performance by Ohio State's front line, and the Buckeyes ran away for the win.
The second-seeded Buckeyes (27-7) are in prime March form with nine straight wins, including their last five games of the regular season and a run to the Big Ten tournament title.
Ohio State plays either Notre Dame or Iowa State on Sunday, one win away from a fourth straight trip to the round of 16.