Ole Miss Rebels 89, Vanderbilt Commodores 79

Last night, the Rebels defeated the Commodores on last second heroics by Marshall Henderson. If you didn't get a chance to listen to our initial reactions, do it here.

It was absolute pandemonium as I watched the above unfold via grainy internet connection at 11 PM my time. When Vanderbilt made the shot with three seconds left in the game, I literally threw a book from a table to the ground. Then Marshall Henderson tied it up in the aforementioned epic fashion, and I found myself thanking him, a few minutes after badmouthing his defense aloud to an empty living room. He's a great player but is capable of even more than he's doing right now. We still haven't seen him have a 7-9 night from three in a big game. That's not something he can't do. He just hasn't done it yet. Either way.... I'm so glad he's on our team.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how terribly the Rebels reacted to the Vanderbilt screens in the first half and first part of the second. The Rebs gave Vandy countless opportunities to shoot wide open threes, and Vandy made them pay for it. Vanderbilt led by one at the half thanks to shooting 12-20 from three at that point. They then led by eleven with just under seven minutes to play.

At that point, the Rebels made a lot of good things happen. After a Murphy Holloway layup (to the left), Anthony Perez hit a three to bring the deficit to six. Jarvis Summers then hit a floater in the lane before Vanderbilt put in yet another three pointer. Luckily, that score was answered with an Aaron Jones free throw make and a miss that Murphy Holloway brought down and pitched out the Henderson. Henderson drained a three immediately to get within three points. The Rebels would battle back and forth with Vandy and eventually produce the crazy turn of events in the video above before winning overtime 11-1.

It was an absolute team effort, with contributions coming from all around. Jarvis Summers did a masterful job, with his only turnover coming on a pass to Murphy Holloway that was just a little too low. Summers is a very steady point guard who does great things with the ball, whether it's setting up the offense or creating for himself (14 points last night). Murphy Holloway was, of course, quite good. There were stretched when Vanderbilt simply couldn't do anything at all about him. Reggie Buckner also played a great game, producing 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Nick Williams made several clutch shots at pivotal moments of the game. Really offensively no one played poorly. Defensively, as I mentioned, the Rebels struggled.

Up next is Arkansas on Saturday in Oxford. If you're anywhere near there, go to the game. Ole Miss will need help from the crowd, and I suspect the crowd will be eager to help cheer on the team, sorta like this guy was last night (via):

PS - Read this. Marshall Henderson has made it to Grantland already.