Marshall Henderson’s SEC debut won’t soon be forgotten.
The junior college transfer from Hurst, Texas, entered Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night leading Ole Miss and the conference with 18.2 points per game.
Then he dropped 32 on Tennessee and gleefully let every person in the building know about every single point.
As a blistering 92-74 men’s basketball win for the Rebels reached its waning moments, Henderson yelled to crowd eyeing the exits, “I’m getting 30!”
He wasn’t lying.
Henderson poured in 22 second-half points and canned three 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes to turn a competitive dance into an easy waltz for Ole Miss in the SEC opener for both teams.
The Vols had no answer to the Rebels’ scoring or their chirping.
“When they’re talking and their up so many points, there’s really nothing you can say,” UT’s Jordan McRae said. “That’s just something you have to take in and remember for the next game.”
The 18-point deficit was the Vols’ worst loss at Thompson-Boling since a 90-72 loss to Kentucky on Jan. 13, 2009.
It dropped the Vols to 8-5.
They were looking to avenge a 77-72 overtime loss to Ole Miss in last year’s SEC tournament quarterfinals. Instead, the Rebels thwarted UT again, this time putting four scorers in double digits and making 21 of 43 shots from inside the arc.
Ole Miss improved to 12-2.
It did so by controlling the paint. The Rebels drew 44 free-throw attempts, outscoring Tennessee 38-17 from the line, and notched 25 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
“They were able to get into the lane, kind of like the Memphis game,” said Jarnell Stokes, who registered his first double-double in nine games with 15 points and 11 rebounds. “At the end of the day, we have to keep guys out of the paint.”
After trailing 38-30 at halftime, the Vols looked to mount a comeback behind McRae’s hot shooting. The junior began the night by replacing struggling Skylar McBee in coach Cuonzo Martin’s starting lineup.
He made the case to stay there.
McRae matched his career high of 26 points — set just five days prior in a loss to Memphis — and for the second game in a row did everything he could to keep the Vols afloat.
“He’ll be (back) in the (starting) lineup,” Martin said. “He’s earned it.”
Trailing 51-43 with just under 14 minutes remaining, McRae scored nine straight for UT. The problem, though, was on the other end. The Vols couldn’t get stops.
The defensive woes were enough for Martin, a devotee of man-to-man defense, to shift into a 2-3 zone.
“We were just trying something different,” the coach said.
After Tennessee cut the Ole Miss lead down to eight with 6:55 left, the Rebels went on a rampage.
They outscored UT 23-13 to close the night.
“I think each man needs to look in the mirror and take pride in our defense,” McRae said. “(Giving up) 90 points in college, that’s just a lot of points. There’s no excuse for it.”
Jarvis Summers scored 14 of his 16 points during the second-half blitz.
Tennessee vs Ole Miss, Jan. 9, 2013
After starting the night 0-for-10 from beyond the arc, the Rebels buried four of their last five attempts, pushing their lead to as many as 21 points. Twenty-six made free throws kept it comfortable.
Ole Miss came to Thompson-Boling with a 10-39 all-time record in Knoxville and a 12-game road losing streak to UT. It left with a much-needed win in early in conference play.
For UT, meanwhile, a game in Oxford, Miss., against the Rebels in two weeks is now circled on the calendar. The Rebels were not shy about celebrating their late-game onslaught. Players laughed, gestured to the crowd and enjoyed every second of the victory.
“A team like that, with them doing all that stuff at the end, I’m glad we get another chance at them,” McRae said.
A close eye likely will be kept on Henderson on Jan. 24.
“You look at his numbers, he scores 32 points but he goes 8-for-19 (from the field), 3-for-12 (from 3-point range),” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said of his leading scorer’s performance. “It’s his first road game in SEC play.”
Before the Vols can worry about a rematch against Ole Miss, they’ll have to address back-to-back-losses and an 0-1 start in the league. They travel to Alabama (8-6, 0-1) on Saturday.
“Seventeen games left,” Martin said. “The most important one is the next one.”
Brendan F. Quinn covers Tennessee men’s basketball. Follow him at Twitter.com/BFQuinn
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Comments » 201
VOLSnTITANS writes:
I might as well cut and paste from previous posts because nothing has changed with this team. Nobody has improved over the last two seasons with the exception of McRae. One could argue this team is getting worse each game. This is a reflection of coach Zo. Great man, bad coach. This team is very, very lost under his direction. And the recruits he’s bringing in don’t look very promising. Giving up 85 and then 92 points in back to back home games when your calling card is playing tough, physical D… Embarrassing.
wigmeister writes:
This team is tough to watch!
bigdisbig writes:
This is a badly coached team. Its gonna be a long depressing season.
Dooley would be proud of Counzo for taking a good team and making them bad.
IC_Vol writes:
This is not a good team or a well caoched team. I am looking forward to baseball season now.
redskinvol1 writes:
Kiss the tourney good bye.This was a must win at home and they got hammered.I miss Bruce!!
Rumblefish writes:
1) Didn't Ole Miss change their mascot to the Black Bears???? (yes, I know the Bear itself is named "Rebel") But, their jerseys and warmups clearly said "REBELS" on them.
2) McRae and Reese are productive. Reese has one hell of a shot. Reese's minutes were limited
3) Stokes is getting worse by the game.
4) What the hell happened to the defense???
Rumblefish writes:
and to my above post....I prefer Ole Miss being the "Rebels". Nothing wrong with history. Nothing at all.
samvol writes:
this offense sucks...
10SE writes:
I have come to the conclusion that this team is not good.
OklaVOL writes:
Hate to say it. But, CCM is our new Buzz Peterson. Great guy, well liked and respected, clean program, mediocre teams. His teams are horrible to watch. No steals, no excitement, just Gene Keady, ugly basketball. Felt as soon as Ole Miss got ahead, we could never come back. Can't watch much more.
huntined#565710 writes:
Just a real bad shooting team..I don't think some of these guys could score 15 points if you left them in the gym all night,,,Got to find a LOFTON somewhere!!!
eduardo writes:
Sorry everybody but I am officially off of the Cuonzo Train. Dont like the style of play and it seems we have gone from BIG TIME to little time. I am afraid we have hired Wade Houston all over again. Minus Allan of course. Maybe 15 wins tops!
CoverOrange writes:
1) mascot changed, nickname remained the same
2)-4) doesn't matter anymore, this team has quit
1vavolfan writes:
UT will finish in the middle of a less than mediocre SEC. Next year will be better as CCM plays with the last of CBP's recruits. Next season UT has the 39th ranked recruiting class, 8th in the SEC. Martin is recruiting players Pearl would never even scout. UT has some of the best facilities and is top 5 yearly in attendance, a 3 star recruit should never put on a UT jersey. Make no mistake this is BUZZBALL revisited, a boring uninspiring coach and a boring uninspired basketball team.
CoverOrange writes:
Hope is draining away. Though Martin will get one more year it will be hard to hold on. Thanks to ESPN3 repeatedly dropping out I didn't get to watch this.
VolGrad writes:
Dear Coach,
This was a really sad performance tonight. I hope you are as angry about it as the rest of us. I trust you will do something about it before the next game. Thanks for hearing us out.
Sincerely,
VolNation
1vavolfan writes:
UT going to a zone defense may be the turning point in the season. Martin's thing is in your face man defense, to abandon his philosophy because the team is so bad defensively speaks volumes. The only reason you play zone is because you can't guard. Ole Miss shooting 43 foul shots and scoring 92 in TBA should never happen, this was not even a ranked team.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
So much for that shutdown defense.I think it was pretty clear Ole Miss knew they had the Refs in their pocket and used it to their advantage..Not one to complain about refs but no way a team should shot 44 free throws and be in the double bonus with only 7 minutes gone in the 2nd half..Frankly it's unheard of!!! It got so bad the players were afraid to defend and had to resort to a zone defense..Pretty much accepted this is a NIT team unless Golden gets his game back.Second game he missed 12 foot pull ups that used to be automatic..
ellerbee123 writes:
May as well start hunting our new basketball coach. No need to wait until the last minute.
Rumblefish writes:
Can't believe they didn't pull down the curtains in the upper deck.
edvol writes:
Hate to agree...but agree. poor efforts are becoming commonplace and this is an 11 win team at best. Sad Stokes is here. surrounded by more talent and better coaching, he'd be prepping for NBA. sad. lost me for attending or watching the rest of the year
chipmurphy461 writes:
chipmurphy461e basketball team is better than moral victories! For the life of me I just can't understand why they play so terrible. I have
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
while i havent been hard on CM yet for his coaching saying it would be hard for any coach to win with this bad shooting lot of less than average players i do have to agree he is boring and uninspiring----some fire and some bit of charisma would be welcome----not much here for top recruits to get excited about, facilities will take you just so far---we cant even feel good about D now that we playing D1 teams----nothing but the sound of clack from these brick-tossers ---only thing they seem to be good at is fouling
volaholic45 writes:
Big crowd. Dismal performance. This is Tennessee.
decades_vol writes:
Expected a rough game, and knew Ole Miss would come hungry. Didn't expect a beatdown, though. Don't know what to think, really. Got a banged-up, beat-down UT team with Bama and KY next on the road.
WhoIsJohnGalt writes:
Ole Miss had 44 free throws. 44! That's horrible; and I'm not commenting on the officiating. I'm commenting on our defense, or lack thereof. Afraid this is going to be a long, miserable season. This team will be lucky to make the NIT.
On a side note, Marshall Henderson can play, but he's a full on punk. A buddy of mine that lives out in Utah told me he had about the worst reputation of any player in the Mountain West. I'd say his rep is well deserved. If he makes it through the SEC schedule without someone cleaning his clock, I'll be surprised.
VolunteerLifer writes:
Beat by nearly 20 at home? And by Ole Miss? Pitiful. Hard to defend Martin with this kind of performance. How can they be that bad? This coach needs to talk to the fan base and tell us what the hall is going on.
8inarow writes:
On a brighter note, the Gators swamped the dawgs 77-44 to go 11-2 on the season.
jt45 writes:
Losing like this at Home is just plain ugly, I realize Ole Miss is playing well but this is ridiculous.
Had to stop watching after halftime, BB season is a bust if improvements arent made SOON !
This team needs another effective post player badly with Maymon out. All those missed threes are hard to watch when you see so many teams with good shooters these days.
thevoice writes:
Boring coach = boring team.
pcshowtime writes:
How much longer until we can hire coach pearl back??????
thevoice writes:
I wish somebody would do a +/- analysis on McBee.
1vavolfan writes:
Year after next but it will never happen, UT would have to swallow its pride. If KNS took a poll after tonight 90% would vote to bring him back.
Rumblefish writes:
McMiss
Scoon writes:
No, say 'hello' NIT.
THIS is the team that Jarnell Stokes proclaimed so adamantly last year that was gonna womp up on the Cats in Rupp Arena this year? Huh? Well, got a News Flash here for him. He'd better be agetting his act together pronto if he's gonna do that cause you guys are knocking on Rupp Arena's Gigantic doors come Tuesday night. BANG! BANG!
Basketvol writes:
You're right. They're both punks and were both running their mouths all night. Although, Kennedy was actually a little better than usual. Miserable game all the way around.
fabiofive148 writes:
What I saw was a team with little effort and no confidence, Looks like Buzz ball all over again.
bobe4544 writes:
Shaka Smart.
emailnodata (Inactive) writes:
Please bring Bruce back.
TheFuj writes:
Embarrassing!!
It just seems the basketball team is taking the same Dooley road. First year you like the effort, and everything about the coach. Year two, same good guy, but results seem to be worse. Just makes you wonder what year 3 will be like.
Martin's recruits just provide little contribution, and the experience players like Golden and McBrick seem to be worse.
McBrick 's shooting just keeps getting worse.
Mcrae has had two good scoring games in defeat, but he is just so streaky.
Game thoughts--Ole Miss 44 free throws to TN 26?
Also, they shot almost 87% from the line. 87%!!
One last football comparison. Every football game, our opponent seem to have a "career high", well same from that kid from Ole Miss--a career high.
8inarow writes:
Smart was an assistant at UF, can't have that.
redskinvol1 writes:
Bruce is and always will be the best basketball coach this program has or will ever see.Bring back Bruce!!Bring back winning!!Bring back the fun!!
tapeworm writes:
Wow. Who could have seen this coming unless the game was played at Ole Miss? What a complete offensive and defensive no-show.
Trey Golden - Absent. Seven points on 30 % shooting, no free throws - fouls out. (Probably deserves a mulligan because of his shoulder, although that doesn't extend to bad decisions on offense.
Kenny Hall - Absent. No points. No throws. Fouls out.
Skylar McBee - Absent. Three points. No throws. Three fouls.
Jamal Stokes - Absent for such a hyped player (granted, he didn't initiate the hype). 15 points, under 50% free throw shooting.
It's senseless to go on. No one but maybe Jordan MacRae can claim they showed up tonight. This team needs to become more two - dimensional. If Martin thinks he can win with defense, then tonite is all he needs to think otherwise.
He is a disciple of Gene Keady, who preached defense above all at Purdue, yet they never won anything. As we saw tonite, when the defense ain't gettin' it done, then whattaya gonna do?
I fear these guys are the offensive product of the Rocky Top League, where there's no defense played and a ton of bad habits formed. I just hope that CCM doesn't turn out to be the reincarnation of Buzz Peterson.
formerhoopvol writes:
no offense, very overrated defense
oldster writes:
I guess we now know that in addition to not being able to score that this group cannot handle a press, or play defense either. I wonder what they can do well. Maybe save money by not having to pay all those pesky expenses related to traveling to post season tournaments.
VOLSnTITANS writes:
I'll take a stab at this one...
minus - bad defender
minus - bad ball handler
minus - bad rebounder
minus - bad facial hair
*plus - good for one 3-pointer a game
*indicates 7-10 shot attempts to achieve.
feathersax writes:
This!!! Slept through watching 2nd half on tv. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
tan007 writes:
I was at the game. Totally agree with you on the free throw situation. First half we have 3 of 4 & Stokes was the shooter. Ten minutes to go in the 2nd half we had the same thing with Ole Miss piling up the points on free throws. Some of our players got into foul trouble on calls that were ridiculous so they had to let up a bit in their style of play & Ole Miss continued shooting (and making) free throws. Their high point guy was taunting throughout the game, pointing up in the stands & really showing himself. A Coach with some class would have put him on the bench.
oldster writes:
I do not know about Ole Miss, but UT should change the name of their basketball team to the Masons given the number of bricks they lay night after night.
JimmyJoe writes:
Terrible team... Terrible overated coach. Can coach a very small part of the game...defense... But he can't figure out how to win games. This team is pathetic and they are going nowhere. And we are stuck with this coach and no taste of the NCAAs for another two years. Yeah Stuck. Just plain stuck.
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