By Nick Gray | Basketball beat writer

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It was long-awaited and highly anticipated.

Marshall Henderson came to Rupp Arena, and UK lived to tell about it.

Henderson, the University of Mississippi’s boisterous senior guard, labored through and around constant defenders and a vocal crowd of 22,168 as the Cats’ second-half lockdown propelled UK to the 80-64 victory on Tuesday night.

Henderson’s only production of the first half – and it was a snowball – turned a three-point UK lead into a five-point Ole Miss advantage. His first field goal came on his fourth try, with 9:44 left in the first half, and the snowball started rolling.

His first 3-pointer came two minutes later, and his second splashed through the net a possession later amid a heaping plate of boos.

Henderson, who has admitted that he prides himself on feeding off of the crowd, pumped both of his arms with force near mid-court, stomping across the middle of the Rupp Arena floor with his head tilted up as UK called timeout to halt the Rebels’ momentum.

“If you don’t make it hard on him, he can go make 10 threes,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “You got to keep him away (from the ball).”

That was Henderson’s only large chunk of points he manufactured all game, as the Cats switched off screen after screen to deny Henderson the ball and limit his open looks. The 6-foot-2-inch senior took 12 three-point attempts, several of which came with a man (or three) in his face.

“I think it’s a direct correlation with the length that Kentucky has,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “We just could not get clean looks over the top.”

The length Kennedy was referring to was UK’s 7-foot sophomore forward Willie Cauley-Stein. His work started on the offensive end. His low-block moves – including an effective jump hook – added up to a team-high 18 points on seven-of-eight shooting.

Though he had one of his best offensive games of the season, Cauley-Stein’s defense made just as large of an impact, Calipari said. The player, who blocked six shots and grabbed 11 rebounds, agreed.

“I had to get that confidence back on defense and everything else would turn out for itself,” Cauley-Stein said. “I was watching film of myself last night on my defensive presence, trying to get my timing back on blocking shots. It was a difference maker.”

UK’s one-point lead surged to double-digits quickly while the defense, led by Cauley-Stein, forced Ole Miss to shoot under 40 percent for the final 20 minutes. Ole Miss shot 38 percent, which was the first time in three games that UK held a team under 50 percent shooting.

By the end of the night, the only noise came from the UK student section, who chanted “Snow day! Snow day!” after the public address announcer warned of weather.

As icy as it was outside, Tuesday night could not have been more chilly for Henderson and Ole Miss.