Mississippi 65, Auburn 62: Derrick Millinghaus scored 16 points and Aaron Jones played outstanding defense as the host Rebels rallied without leading scorer Marshall Henderson in the SEC opener for both teams.

Jones blocked five shots and recorded five steals to go with 12 points and seven rebounds for Mississippi (10-4, 1-0), which played without Henderson, suspended for off-the-court conduct last summer. Jarvis Summers overcame a slow start to score 14 points.

Chris Denson carried the offense for Auburn (8-4, 0-1), scoring 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting. KT Harrell – the SEC’s leading scorer at 19.4 points entering Thursday – finished with just 11 points on 2-of-9 shooting.

The Rebels took a 58-57 lead on two free throws by LaDarius White with just under four minutes remaining, and two baskets from Jones made it 62-57 two minutes later. The Tigers pulled within 64-62 on three free throws from Harrell with 16 seconds to play but, after Demarco Cox missed one of two free throws to make it a three-point lead, Harrell missed a 3-pointer and Auburn could not get off another shot before the buzzer.

The Tigers overcame an early seven-point deficit with a 15-3 spurt highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Harrell to make it 21-16 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Mississippi responded with nine consecutive points as part of a 15-5 burst en route to a 31-28 halftime advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Denson fell one point shy of his career high, which came Nov. 15 against Northwestern State. … Henderson, who was suspended for the season opener, also will miss Saturday’s contest at Mississippi State. … Summers shot 3-for-11 in the first half.