Utah guard Marshall Henderson knows it's coming tonight. He knows he's going to be the object of numerous chants and jeers from the BYU fans who attend Utah's game against the Cougars in the Huntsman Center. He understands that by the time he leaves the University of Utah, he might well be the most hated Utah player for BYU fans in many seasons. He knows it and he loves every single second of it.

It is, as he puts it, what makes him tick, what makes him shoot better and what makes him urge the crowds on, even when they're trying to get under his skin.

In his world, there is no such thing as bad attention, unless it's no attention at all.

"You can't just play a game with no emotion and expect to be successful all the time," he said. "You have to play with emotions, especially when you are playing games you must win. When the crowd is in that, it definitely helps fuel that."

Then bring on the No. 14 BYU Cougars (11-3, 26-4) the team that beat the Utes (7-7, 14-14) 82-69 earlier in the season, a game that included one of Henderson's worst moments of his freshman year. Late in the game he took a backhanded swipe at BYU's Jackson Emery as if to brush away the BYU guard as Emery approached Henderson.

Emery went down on the court hard. How much Emery faked the injury is a debate still active among Utah and BYU fans. The punishment, though, was clear as Henderson was suspended for fighting and missed the Utes' 65-50 loss to Colorado State.

Henderson watched that defeat in Utah coach Jim Boylen's office in agony he couldn't be on the court. Not because the showman was missing the lights, but because he felt he'd let his team down.

"It was a learning experience because I saw how important I was to the team," Henderson said. "They were double-teaming guys and it was a mess. It let me know I can't mess up anymore."

But don't expect Henderson to be subdued by any means tonight. His goal is to play smarter, not more subdued. The confidence verging on cockiness and his shoot-first mentality will all be there. Those are the aspects of his game that make him so good and have driven opponents crazy this season.

At New Mexico, the hyped-up Lobos fans immediately zeroed in on Henderson early in the game and chanted his name. They didn't understand their attention only made him play harder. Henderson was just 3-for-11 that night for 12 points in the 74-57 loss. But it was New Mexico's defense that got to him, not the crowd. He loved every minute of the game, he said.

He has always loved it, even back in high school when he said fans would go to his games at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, Texas, just to cheer against him.

Now in college he says he has to be wiser so he doesn't draw technical fouls or get ejected, but the grander the stage the better to show off and play harder, he says.

"I feed off that crazy stuff," he said. "That's why if you start shooting and you make it, I'll hold my follow-through all the way back to the other end of the court sometimes."

If Henderson were just a big talker, his ways would get old not only for opponents but also his team. However, more often than not he has backed up his big mouth with big plays. He ranks 12th in the league in scoring, averaging 12.1 points. Only two other freshmen, CSU's Dorian Green and San Diego State's Kawhi Leonard, average more, with both at the 12.4 mark.

Henderson is far from being a renegade out for his own attention, say his coach and his teammates.

Utah senior Luka Drca would never think of holding the "three" sign by his hip like Henderson does after he makes a trey, a gesture Henderson picked up from the Celtics' Rasheed Wallace, and Drca rolls his eyes at some of the other things the freshman does, but he loves having him on his team just the same.

"It might be different, from outside for people who don't know him as well as we do," Drca said. "But he's not that cocky. Yeah, he has that swagger and the personality to carry on, but he is a good player. He has reasons to be cocky. Sometimes he gets crazy, but he is still young."

That Henderson took the Utes' loss to CSU so personally was a good sign in Boylen's eyes, and he has no plans to rein in his guard. Quite the opposite, Boylen hopes the attitude Henderson has infiltrates the rest of the Utes. He is trying to rebuild the Utes program to the proud level it once was and views Henderson and his temperament as a key ingredient for future success.

"Our personalities are similar," he said. "He is a fiery, competitive, confident guy. The energy in the building that he and guys like [Jason] Washburn bring is what we need. I tried to get last year's team to have a swagger and a chip on their shoulder. Marshall's not stupid, he's a good player."

He's a good player who loves challenges and sees none bigger than tonight's contest. His eyes still get wide and glassy remembering what it was like to walk out of the tunnel at BYU, and he hopes the atmosphere in the Huntsman Center will be similar.

"The boos started happening even before I was out of the tunnel," he said. "Then [Tyler] Haws got that first dunk and it was so loud, I couldn't hear, my ears started ringing. All I could think was, 'Man, this is going to be awesome.'"

Henderson hopes tonight's game is just as crazy. He knows BYU's fans are going to get on him, but smiles at the would-be pressure such attention might bring.

"Yeah, I know, and I'm perfectly fine with that," he said. "I feel like off the ball there might be eyes watching and seeing what is going on even. People have told me I don't have a choice, I have to play well against them."

lwodraska@sltrib.com