BLOG — It was a busy morning for the Ole Miss men’s basketball team. Not only did junior guard Marshall Henderson earn this week’s Southeastern Conference Player of the Week honor, the Rebels entered the Associated Press Top 25 poll at No. 23.The Rebels enter the AP Poll for the first time since Feb. 1, 2010, one day before the Rebels lost to No. 3 Kentucky 85-75. Ole Miss advanced to the NIT Final Four that season.
Henderson secured the SEC Player of the Week honor thanks in large part to his dramatic game-tying shot this past Tuesday at Vanderbilt. The Hurst, Texas native helped keep the Rebels undefeated in the SEC by forcing overtime with the shot and then helping close the ‘Dores out the next five minutes. Henderson averaged 21 points, 4.5 rebounds and three steals in wins over the Commodores and Arkansas. His five steals against Arkansas Saturday were a career high.
Kennedy on teleconference
Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy outlined how and why the Rebels have started SEC play 4-0 for the first time since 1937 during today’s SEC teleconference.
“Every game has really been a different way for us to find a way to win, starting off with Tennessee and then coming home to Missouri and then to Vandy where we get a last-second shot to force overtime and then have a strong second half against a good Arkansas team,” Kennedy said. “Each game is something different for us. It’s about establishing an identity as a team, understanding the approach that we have to have in order to be successful.
“I’ve had productivity pretty consistently from our front line which is what you would expect from seniors in Murphy Holloway, who is having a Player of the Year type season to this point. Reginald Buckner has been as consistent as he has ever been for us during his tenure here,” Kennedy added. “Nick Williams, another one of my seniors, has been solid. He had a huge second half against Arkansas on Saturday and then our backcourt has steadily improved from Jarvis Summers, who had a terrific freshman year, going into year two. As we have gotten into league play, his production has been more consistent. Snoop White, who I have started since the Christmas break, has given us the punch I had hope for and then we add a guy like Marshall Henderson who obviously has the ability to make shots but also force the opponent to game plan based on his offensive abilities.” (January 21, 2013)
