CONWAY, S.C. — Marshall Henderson returned to the Ole Miss men’s basketball team after the first part of his suspension Saturday night and picked up right where he left off.
Henderson scored 19 points and taunted the crowd after a decisive 3-pointer and dunk as the Rebels (2-0) beat Coastal Carolina 72-70 on Saturday night.
The senior missed Ole Miss’ opener after being suspended because he was found with drugs and will miss two more games to start the Southeastern Conference season. But Saturday night, Rebels coach Andy Kennedy was happy to have his trash-talking, jersey-popping fearless shooting guard on the court.
“If I wasn’t glad to have him back, he wouldn’t be back,” Kennedy said.
Ole Miss did not make Henderson available to reporters after the game. Since his suspension in July, he has not spoken with the media except for a one-on-one interview with ESPN in October.
The Rebels needed Henderson back. They led just 60-58 with 4 minutes, 3 seconds to go when he buried a 3-pointer. Then after Mississippi missed a shot on the next possession, Henderson stole a pass in the backcourt and dunked it to put Ole Miss up 65-58 with just over three minutes to go.
After the dunk, Henderson finally showed the theatrics that made him a villain on the road last year, screaming and waving his arms.
But the game wasn’t over yet. Henderson’s teammates would miss five of their next eight free throws and Henderson showed the poor decision making that gets him into trouble sometimes, having the ball stolen as he tried to dribble around several players with Ole Miss up 66-61 with 1:24 left.
Kennedy shook his head as he compared Henderson after the game to old Harlem Globetrotter tricky dribbling star Curley Neal. “He does the little dribble exhibition and they back tip and stay in the game,” the coach said.
Coastal Carolina (1-2) had a chance to tie with nine seconds left, but Josh Cameron’s 3-point attempt rattled in and out. Anthony Perez then hit two free throws, making Cameron’s 3 at the buzzer meaningless.
Henderson’s 19 points led all scorers. He was 6-of-16 from the field and 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. He had four steals, three turnovers and no assists.
Cameron scored 16 for Coastal Carolina, making three of his seven 3-pointers. Warren Gillis also had 16 points before fouling out late.
Jarvis Summers scored 14 points and Derrick Millinghaus added 12 points for Ole Miss.
The Rebels shot just 60 percent (24-of-40) from the foul line, but shot 16 more free throws and made 11 more foul shots than the Chanticleers.
Henderson went long stretches without touching the ball on offense, especially in the first half. At one point, the ball never got to him on nine of 10 possessions, but Kennedy said that was by his plans.
“There’s a lot of times he doesn’t touch it by design, because when he touches it, he shoots it, good shot or bad shot,” Kennedy said. “I talk to him ad nauseam about being patient.”
Henderson was suspended from the reigning Southeastern Conference tournament champions in July after police found him with small amounts of marijuana and cocaine during a traffic stop, though he was not arrested.
Henderson missed the opening win against Troy and will also have to sit out the Rebels’ first two SEC games against Auburn and Mississippi State in January. He did get to practice with the team during his suspension.
“Do I wish he wasn’t playing in this one? Absolutely,” Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis said. “But you want to beat them with a full boat.”
The Chanticleers have done it before. In the past three years, they have beaten LSU and Clemson two times each. And Cameron’s 3 with nine seconds left could have led to another had if had fallen a half-inch shorter.
Ellis called it gut-wrenching. “Really a tough loss. There’s no moral victory for us,” he said.
Henderson was booed whenever he touched the ball. He didn’t start, but came in with 17:02 left. He stole the ball immediately, but had his dunk blocked. The next time down the court, he buried a 3-pointer off a pass.
Henderson was rusty to start, missing his next six shots and going just 1-of-7 from the field in the first half. He made five of his nine shots in the second half, including three of five 3s.
He barely taunted the crowd of 3,421 in Coastal Carolina’s 2-year-old HTC Center for most of the game, just smirking at the students after he buried one from behind the arc.
But then came his big moment toward the end of the game. His 19 points were just under the 20.1 he averaged last season.
“He did what we’ve known him to do,” Kennedy said. “And he made the clutch shots.”
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