Will the Kentucky Wildcats face an “all grown up” Marshall Henderson tonight?

Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight, the two biggest attendance draws in the SEC will meet in Rupp Arena. We all know that the Kentucky Wildcats are everyone’s Super Bowl and Kentucky on the road usually equals sell out. No offense to any one else in the SEC but Ole Miss’s Marshall Henderson may be the next biggest draw. Henderson draws haters like flies on … well, you know. You can be certain that the eRUPPtion zone will be on their best behavior trying to troll Henderson and get under his skin.

"This year, Henderson has tuned out a lot of the fan abuse. Could it be that he is all grown up now? Henderson is definitely trying not to show he is all worked up for the game at Rupp tonight? “I’m excited about this, but it won’t be anything different,” Henderson said of his Ole Miss’ date with Kentucky (7 ET, ESPNU), a team, that like Ole Miss, stands at 6-2 and trails Florida (8-0 in the SEC). “It’s a big-time place, big-time crowd and big-time team. We’re tied for second place. That’s what this game is about Tuesday.” But Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy knows the focus will be on Henderson, which is not lost on Henderson, either. He’s the target. “People paint our heroes and our villains early and we don’t allow them to get out of a box,” Kennedy said. “Marshall was painted as a villain and it was some of his own doing. He’s not harmless in the equation. But he’s already projected as the guy. We go to Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky and it’s a sellout to see him. We’re at Tennessee the other night in a damn snow storm and they still had 15,000 people there. “People love to antagonize the antagonist. He’s been good at not taking the bait.” Why? “I honestly don’t care as much about that anymore,” Henderson said. “I’ve always been good about blocking it out. Going on the road has been nothing new for me. I know what it means to go and play at a packed house. I always tried to block out but I responded more last year.”"

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Kentucky kept Henderson under control last year, but like a ticking bomb, he is likely to explode any given game.  Kentucky is well aware of the unique challenge Henderson presents.  It’s not all about lobbing shots from long range.  

"Kentucky is aware. Assistant Coach Orlando Antigua, who substituted for John Calipari in the day-before-the-game news conference, said, “He’s going to get his shots up. We know that. It’s what he’s done his whole career there at Ole Miss. We just have to make it difficult for him.” Kentucky did just that last season in Oxford, winning 87-74 as Henderson made five of 19 shots (two of 11 from three-point range). When a reporter made the oxymoronic suggestion that UK contained Henderson by forcing him farther out onto the open court, Antigua said, “He shot it out to 30 feet. I don’t know you can push him out any farther than that.” Henderson, who leads the SEC and ranks second in the nation with an average of 4.28 three-pointers (UK averages 5.4 as a team), has made at least one in a school-record 54 straight games. He made 10 (in 23 attempts) against Oregon on Dec. 8. “He doesn’t have a green light, he has no light,” Antigua quipped. “And he’s really active. And those guys are really looking for him.” There’s a method to the bombs-away approach. Ole Miss expects the threat of Henderson pouring in three-pointers to warp opponents’ defenses. At the worst, the other four Rebels can play four-on-four on offense. Point guard Jarvis Summers benefits. “Unquestionably our MVP,” Kennedy said earlier this season. “Jarvis does a good job playing into those gaps (created by defense on Henderson).”"

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

It’s still way to early to ponder the NBA Draft for this class, but the mock drafts go on.  It is interesting to note that the Harrison Twins are not in the lastest DraftExpress Mock Draft yet Willie Cauley-Stein is still a first round pick.  We should note that these mock drafts do not address team needs and really are just ranking the players and the order of the draft.  That said, as an Orlando Magic fan, I will not complain about Andrew Wiggins and WCS coming to my Magic.

Here is is a loot at where the Kentucky players stand a good four months before the NBA Draft.

• 4 – Julius Randle – Sacramento
• 12-Willie Cauley-Stein – Orlando
• 14-James Young – Minnesota
• 33-Alex Poythress – Philadelphia

That’s it.  Just four Cats and I would expect to see WCS start to drop a bit.  Of course, the NBA drafts on potential, so none of this really matters.  You can try to mockdraft and predict what the NBA teams will do, but on Draft Day, you throw all that out the window.  As of now, I do think that Randle and Young may be the only departures.