Typically, when Henderson scores 39 points and the Rebels score 105 points they will win. I'd venture to say Ole Miss will win every other time this season those two things occur.
But not on Sunday. Not against the undefeated Ducks.
It was a tough week for Ole Miss. The Rebels went from being 6-0 to losing two straight.
But Ole Miss may be about to turn the corner. Oregon is a very good basketball team. The Rebels gave them everything they wanted and more thanks to Henderson, who finally found his stroke, including the turnaround jumpers and the crazy double pumps two handed jack-up 3's that shouldn't ever go in and wouldn't for anybody else but Henderson.
He's ridiculous. And ridiculously fun.
Losing isn't fun, but this team has a lot of hoops left to play. It'll win more games with a sharp-shooting Henderson raining 3's from all over the floor, than it will without him. Today that happened. Henderson is a streaky shooter. On Sunday, even though the Rebels lost, a new Henderson streak started. Wins are sure to follow.
Disappointing loss aside, it was a terribly exciting game to watch. From the AP:
The final minute of regulation was wild, with Ole Miss hitting three difficult 3-pointers in the last 40 seconds to climb out of an 86-80 hole. Henderson made two with a hand in his face and then Jarvis Summers nailed an off-balance 22-footer to tie it at 89 with 0.8 seconds left.
The Rebels even had a chance to win in regulation after Oregon threw its inbounds pass out of bounds, but Henderson's last gasp 3-pointer clanged off the rim.
Six Oregon players scored in double figures during an entertaining game that stayed close throughout. The Ducks shot 38 of 65 (58.5 percent) percent from the field, including 11 of 18 (61.1 percent) from 3-point range. They also made 17 of 18 free throws (94.4 percent) in overtime.
Oregon coach Dana Altman was thrilled with his team's offense, but just as disappointed in the defense. Ole Miss made 15 3-pointers.
"We were so happy we were scoring we forgot to guard," Altman said.
Moser scored 22 of his 24 points after halftime as Oregon shot a blistering 18 of 26 (69.2 percent) in the second half and 4 of 6 (66.7 percent) in overtime.
"We always have a lot of confidence in each other so we don't mind moving the ball and looking for the best shot we can," Moser said. "Everybody shoots it so well."
Henderson bounced back from a terrible 4-of-18 shooting night Thursday night in a loss to Kansas State.But it wasn't enough to top the Ducks, who simply couldn't miss for most of the afternoon. The 6-foot-8 Moser made 8 of 13 shots from the field, alternating drives to the basket with 3-pointers. He also added 10 rebounds.
Loyd's 15 assists were the second-most in Oregon's program history. Joseph Young added 19 points and hit a clutch 3-pointer in overtime to push the Ducks ahead 100-93 with 1:59 remaining.
"We never guarded them the entire (second half and overtime)," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "I thought we guarded them decent at first, but then they got into such a rhythm. Mike Moser's a hard matchup."
The Rebels stayed even with the Ducks because of tough post play from Demarco Cox and Aaron Jones and timely outside shooting from Henderson, Summers and LaDarius White.
Ole Miss pushed out to a 62-55 advantage on Henderson's 3-pointer with 9:07 remaining, but the Ducks never flinched. Moser had 10 points in a row midway through the second half, single-handedly pushing Oregon ahead 67-65.
Derrick Millinghaus scored 15 points for the Rebels and White added 13. Cox had 10 points and six rebounds.
Henderson's 23 3-point attempts were one shy of the Southeastern Conference record.