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| Henderson had 22 pts. |
Marshall Henderson needed a night like this.
The struggling shooting guard ended a four-game funk shooting 6 of 13 from behind the arc and led the Rebels with 22 points as Ole Miss beat East Tennessee State 77-55.
Ole Miss improved to 7-1, but perhaps more important than the win was the fact that Henderson got his groove back. The juco transfer and leading scorer is the key piece to an Ole Miss team stacked with one of the SEC's best, most experienced front courts in Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner, but in need of some help from a young, tentative back court. Henderson started the season filling the role of designated team shooter nicely, but in the last four previous games Henderson was 10-for-46 from 3-pt range, and was just 3-for-12 in the Rebels' first loss of the season against Middle Tennessee State, a game Ole Miss lost by only three points.
After the loss Coach Andy Kennedy challenged Henderson to either start making better shot selections or find a spot on the bench.
In response Henderson shot nearly 50 percent from 3-point range. It was precisely what Henderson and Ole Miss needed.
Buckner had 11 points for the Rebels. Holloway and Nick Williams had 10 each.
Next up for Ole Miss is a trip to Hawaii by way of Los Angeles where the Rebels will face Loyola Marymount of December 19 before heading to Honolulu for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in a tournament with Indiana State, San Francisco and San Diego State.