UNC-Ole Miss basketball NCAA Tournament preview

[ad_1]

Here’s everything you need to know for the UNC-Ole Miss Round of 64 NCAA Tournament matchup Friday.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, doubted for their NCAA Tournament inclusion due to a lack of quality victories, passed their first test with flying colors on Tuesday, March 18.

UNC faced San Diego State, the best defensive team in Division I, in a First Four Matchup from the University of Dayton (Ohio) Arena. North Carolina was a 4.5-point favorite entering Tuesday’s battle, but what ensued over 40 minutes was far from what I expected.

The Tar Heels badly battered and bruised the Aztecs, leading by 40 – at one point – en route to a 95-68 victory. UNC (23-13, 13-7) quickly proved it belongs in the Big Dance and, with its next game quickly approaching, showed it can be a threat.

Next up for North Carolina is a date with the Ole Miss Rebels, one of 14 SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament field. Ole Miss (22-11, 10-8) earned the South Region’s sixth seed, with its most recent highlight a Saturday, March 5 home victory over fourth-ranked Tennessee.

It took us a little digging, but the Tar Heels and Ole Miss have an extremely brief history dating back to the 1920s, splitting both matchups. UNC lost 34-32 to Ole Miss in 1923, then won 38-23 in 1926.

I watched an Ole Miss game in-person earlier this season, when Vanderbilt won via upset in Nashville, Tenn. back in February. The Rebels aren’t anything special defensively, but instead, they hit you with a deep, balanced scoring attack.

Regardless of the outcome, I just hope North Carolina brings its best like Tuesday night against San Diego State. Let’s take a deeper dive in our Friday game preview.

Key to victory for UNC

It’s extremely difficult to beat a team that can’t miss from the perimeter. The Tar Heels did exactly this on Tuesday against SDSU, shooting a near-unconscious 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from deep.

RJ Davis led the 3-point barrage for North Carolina, making all six of his attempts and tying a program NCAA Tournament record. Ian…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://tarheelswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/tarheels/mens-basketball/2025/03/20/unc-basketball-ncaa-tournament-ole-miss-rebels-preview/82552790007/

Author :

Publish date : 2025-03-20 13:30:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.