Mississippi State coach Rick Ray apologizes for yelling at Marshall Henderson

Rick Ray is 23-27 in two seasons at Mississippi State. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson is no stranger to controversy.

But it was Mississippi State coach Rick Ray who was the one being contrite on Sunday for yelling at Henderson in the waning moments of the Bulldogs' 82-63 loss to the Rebels on Saturday.

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"I responded inappropriately to an Ole Miss player [Saturday] in our game,'' Ray said in a statement he texted to Andy Katz of ESPN.com. "I reached out to [Ole Miss] coach [Andy] Kennedy immediately to apologize and subsequently to the player too. There is no reason for a coach to ever have interaction with an opposing player, ever, regardless of the circumstances. I was more upset with our performance than the player. I was totally at fault.''

Henderson was walking off the court with six seconds left, shouting at his teammates and raising his arms to get the crowd going. As he passed the Mississippi State bench, Ray screamed something at him.

Henderson scored 19 points as the Rebels (14-5, 5-1 SEC) avenged their loss in Starkville on Jan. 11.

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