OXFORD, Miss. — Marshall Henderson wasn’t at his best during the first half against Tennessee. He more than made up for it after the break.

The 6-2 junior scored 28 points - including 24 in a dominant second half - as No. 23 Ole Miss rallied for a 62-56 victory over Tennessee on Thursday night at a raucous Tad Smith Coliseum.

Henderson is the SEC’s leading scorer with 18.9 points per game and he put on a show in the second half, making six three-pointers to push the Rebels (16-2, 5-0 SEC) to their eighth consecutive victory.

“All the sudden he got combustible and started knocking down shots,” Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said. “We tried to ride him as hard as we could.”

Henderson scored 32 against the Volunteers just two weeks ago in a victory in Knoxville, and Tennessee didn’t have much more success in the second meeting. The high-energy, sometimes motor-mouthed sharpshooter can occasionally get underneath the skin of opponents. In the lead-up to Thursday’s game, Tennessee made it clear stopping Henderson - and his theatrics - was the first priority.

It worked for a while, but didn’t last.

Henderson said he was aware of Tennessee’s plan thanks to messages sent to him by fans on Twitter. That’s when he made a decision.

“I’ll take a game off from talking and just let my game talk this time,” Henderson said before getting in one barb. “We’ll beat them 10 times out of 10.”

It’s only the second time Ole Miss has started 5-0 in SEC play.

Reginald Buckner added 10 points in a foul-filled game that made both teams go deep into the bench.

Tennessee (9-8, 1-4) led for much of the game - until Henderson got hot. Jordan McRae led the Volunteers with 26 points while Trae Golden added 11.

The shots weren’t falling for either team early, and a constant stream of fouls didn’t help the rhythm.

By midway through the first half, the starting big men for both teams were relegated to the bench because of foul trouble.

Tennessee made a few more shots than the Rebels to take a 25-18 lead into halftime. It was the fewest points by an Ole Miss team in the first half since 2009.

NO. 2 MICHIGAN 68, PURDUE 53

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Trey Burke had 15 points and eight assists and gave No. 2 Michigan a boost on defense, helping the Wolverines shake free of Purdue in the second half.

Tim Hardaway Jr. added 13 points for Michigan.

The Wolverines (18-1, 5-1 Big Ten) trailed by seven in the first half, but took control with a 14-2 run in the second half. Terone Johnson scored 14 points for the Boilermakers (10-9, 3-3).

Michigan took control with a 14-2 run in the second half. The Wolverines have won 28 of their last 29 home games - the only loss was to Purdue last February.

RICHMOND 86, NO. 19 VCU 74

RICHMOND, Va. - Kendall Anthony scored 21 of his 26 points after halftime and Darien Brothers hit two huge three-pointers as Richmond ended No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth’s 13-game winning streak, in overtime.

Brothers had 18 points and Cedrick Lindsay 13 as the Spiders (13-7, 3-2 Atlantic 10) won for only the second time in their past nine meetings with the Rams. Richmond hit 12 3-pointers with Anthony making five and Brothers four, including one with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime, and another to clinch it with 1:35 to play in overtime.

Juvonte Reddic had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Treveon Graham had 15 points, all after halftime, and 10 rebounds for VCU (16-4, 4-1).

UCLA 84, NO. 6 ARIZONA 73

TUCSON, Ariz. - Shabazz Muhammad scored 23 points, Jordan Adams added 15 and UCLA rode a dominating start to a victory over No. 6 Arizona.

The Pacific-12’s top scoring and shooting team, UCLA (16-4, 6-1) raced to a 16-point lead in the game’s first seven minutes.

David Wear added 15 points and eight rebounds for UCLA.

Arizona (16-2, 4-12) got off to a miserable start at both ends and never fully recovered, pulling no closer than four points after digging a huge opening hole.

Nick Johnson had 23 points, Mark Lyons added 16 and Solomon Hill 13 for the Wildcats, who went 5 for 24 from three-point range.

Sports, Pages 21 on 01/25/2013