Mississippi 57, Wisconsin 46
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- No. 12 seed Mississippi withstood an off shooting day for most of the game from leading scorer Marshall Henderson to defeat fifth-seeded Wisconsin 57-46 in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Sprint Center.
Henderson, who came into the game averaging 20.1 points per game, scored 19 points, but on 6-of-21 shooting.
Henderson finally got untracked by hitting his first 3-point basket on his eight shot from behind the arc with 11:21 remaining in the game. He also hit his next 3-pointer, but finished 3-for-12 from long range.
But with Mississippi (27-8) clinging to a three-point lead with 2:49 remaining, Henderson drained a 35-footer with plenty of shot clock left to give the Rebels a comfortable cushion.
Henderson scored 17 of Mississippi's final 27 points.
The Rebels will face the winner of the No. 13 LaSalle vs. No. 4 Kansas State in Sunday's third round.
Neither team could muster much offense, mainly because of horrid shooting. The Rebels shot 39 percent, although they did connect on 48 percent in the second half. Wisconsin (23-12) hit only 25 percent of its shots.
The first half was back and forth, with the largest lead by either team four points before Sam Dekker of Wisconsin hit a 3-piont shot with 26 seconds remained in the half.
Mississippi answered with its own 3-point play to cut the halftime lead to 25-22.
The Badgers shot only 30 percent in the first half, while the Rebels connected on only 31 percent of their shots.
Wisconsin was led by Dekker, who scored 10 points in the first half. Reginald Buckner led Ole Miss with 7 points.
Henderson was held to two points on 1-of-11 shooting, including 0-of-4 from 3-point range.
NOTES: Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy reached 20 wins for the sixth time in his seven seasons in Oxford. The program had won 20 games seven times in the 96 seasons before Kennedy's arrival...The Rebels are making their seventh appearance in the NCAA tournament, and first in 11 years ... Wisconsin was appearing in its 15th straight NCAA tournament, and 20th overall. The Badgers won the championship in 1941. ... Kennedy (SEC) and Wisconsin's Bo Ryan (Big Ten) won their conference's coach-of-the-year honors.
