North Carolina, Ole Miss Are Opposing Each Other In First Round Of NCAA Tournament Friday With Winner Advancing To Second Round To Play Winner Of Iowa State, Lipscomb
North Carolina, Ole Miss are opposing each in the first round of NCAA Tournament Friday with winner advancing to second round of NCAA Tournament to play winner of Iowa State, Lipscomb.
When?
Sunday!
North Carolina is an 11 seed!
Ole Miss is a 6 seed!
North Carolina has a record of 23-13 because North Carolina advanced to NCAA Tournament winning first four over Iowa State 11 North Carolina advanced to first round of NCAA Tournament to oppose 6th seed Ole Miss Friday following routing 11 seed San Diego State 95-68 in first four Tuesday night in Dayton.
As 11 seed North advanced to first round of NCAA Tournament to oppose to 6 seed Ole Miss Friday following routing 11 seed San Diego State as a team North Carolina shot 52.6 % on field goals , 58.3 % of free throws , 87.5 % on free throws. Three players scored in double figures Vin-Allen Lupin was 2-3 on field goals , 8-8 on free throws to go along with 3 rebounds , 12 points . Jaylen Withers was 3-6 on field goals , 2-4 on 3 pointers , 2-2 on free throws to go along with 10 rebounds , 1 assists , 10 points. RJ Davis was 8-12 on field goals , 6-6 on free throws , 4-5 on free throws to go along 2 assists, 26 points . Seth Trimble was 5-10 on field goals , 0-2 on 3 pointers to go along with 3 rebounds, 16 points.
According to espn app
Following 11 seed North Carolina advancing to first round of NCAA Tournament to oppose 6 seed Ole Miss following routing 11 seed San Diego State 95-68 North Carolina guard Ian Jackson who was 3-9 on field goals , 3-6 on 3 pointers to go along with 1 rebound, 9 points had this to say about his teammate RJ Davis who was was 8-12 on field goals , 6-6 on free throws , 4-5 on free throws to go along 2 assists, 26 points!
That’s RJ he’s seen every level in college . He’s seen the high’s the lows . He knows what it takes to win at this level . This time of year , him going out there and being able to put on a performance especially in this kind of setting in the first four is huge for us.
According to Luke Decock News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article302295829.html
Unlike North Carolina Ole Miss has yet to play an opponent in NCAA Tournament!
Ole Miss comes into the game with record of 22-11 because they lost to Auburn in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals 62-57 on Friday March 14, 2025 62-57. As Ole Miss lost in the quarterfinals of Southeastern Conference Tournament as a team Ole Miss shot 37.7 % on field goals , 17.4 % on 3 pointers , 76.5 % on free throws Four players scored in double figures! Malik Dia was 3-11 on field goals , 1-3 on 3 pointers , 3-4 on free throws to go along 7 rebounds , 1 assists, 3 steals , 10 points. Sean Pedulla was 6-13 on field goals , 0-5 on 3 pointers to go along with 1 rebound , 12 points. . Dre Davis was 5-8 on field goals , 1-3 on 3 pointers , 1-3 on free throws to go along 6 rebounds, 2 assists , 12 points. Jaylen Murray was 3-10 on field goals , 0-4 on 3 pointers , 4-4 on free throws to go along 2 rebounds, 5 steals , 10 points.
Following Ole Miss 63-57 loss to Auburn Friday in Southeastern Conference Tournament Ole Miss Head Chris Beard had this to say for his opening statement had this to say Auburn forward Johni Broome on the difference in the third match up with Auburn!
Good, hard-fought game. Congratulate Auburn on a victory. Defensive game. Easy baskets were hard to find throughout the game. If we hold Auburn to 62 points, we should have a chance to win the game, and we did. Thought we played some good defense today.
They’re the SEC champs. Projected 1 seed. You guys just saw it. What does that make Ole Miss? We can play with these teams. Disappointed locker room right now because we expected to win this game.I didn’t think we got beat, though. Like I told the guys, sometimes you win, sometimes you run out of time. I really felt like a little bit more time on the clock. We liked where we were. Congratulate Auburn.
A defensive, tough game. Lastly, basketball is about making shots. Today was a game we needed to make nine or 10 threes. Mathematically, how the game was set up. For us to shoot 17% from three-point line. Most of those were good looks.
Couple shots, one more rebound, we win the game. Congratulations to Auburn. We wish them the best of luck here in Nashville and in the NCAA tournament.
ON AUBURN STAR JOHNI BROOME
Beard: He was the difference in the game. In a one-possession game he goes 23-15. I think he’s worthy of all the attention and awards he’s winning. You saw it today all the way down to the last play.
Shot clock differential was just enough. We got a coach’s decision do we try to get one stop, we’re going to have about 10 seconds with the basketball, coming down with a broken floor, or do we extend the game by fouling.
Defense got better in the last seven or eight minutes of the game. We made the decision, players believed in it. What does Auburn do? Veteran team, well-coached, they get the ball to the right player in the right spot, and he made a tough shot. Not a tough shot, but he made a contested shot.
The question was about Broome. 23-15 on the biggest stage before the tournament. Last play his team has to make a play, and he’s the one that does it.
ON THE DIFFERENCE IN THE THIRD MATCHUP WITH AUBURN
Beard: The first two games, Ole Miss-Auburn, were a bit surprising. We scored the ball at a rate well enough for win the game, didn’t defend enough.
Oxford we played really well. Auburn, I thought it was their A-plus game. Coach Pearl even mentioned that after the game. Today’s game was defensive, tough.
Again, it’s not slighting Auburn at all. When we go 4-21 from the three-point line, and most of those were good shots, a couple late shot clock kind of forced. I would say 17 of the 21 were probably shots that you have to take and you have to make to beat Auburn.
If we make our normal 35%, 36% threes as a team, we score enough points to win.
ON WHEN HE REALIZED OLE MISS WAS GOOD
Beard: That’s a good question. Of course, in recruiting when you put the team together, you have high expectations ’cause you see them playing in front of you. But when it gets real, it’s probably when competition starts. We had a really good summer. We set up our summer a little bit different than the past with new teams, portal, new players. You can’t just spend your whole summer working drills, shell drill. You have to get out there and play a little bit.
We had multiple inner-squad scrimmages with officials. About halfway through the summer, we started visualizing how this could be a good team. Certainly your non-conference, early win against Colorado State, who I think is an NCAA tournament team, our MTE put us against BYU, a really good team in the Big 12. We lost in overtime to a Purdue team that’s still alive today, I believe, in the Big Ten tournament.
I think the combination of putting together a good team with recruiting and roster management, watching those guys begin the gelling process in the summer, and then some success in the non-conference, I’m not going to say it raised our expectations, but it validated — what is that word? — verified what we thought the team could be.
ON HIS MESSAGE TO THE TEAM HEADING INTO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Beard: Yeah, so the message immediately after the game today, again a hurt locker room because we expected to win this game, was that I didn’t think we got beat today. I think we ran out of time. We could have put two more minutes up there and play a little bit more.
I thought the effort was good today. But when you play a team like this, you have to play well in almost every area. We took care of the ball, especially in the second half. We played good enough defense for the most part. Got to do a little bit better job on the backboards. We got to make some shots. 4-21.
The message for the team moving forward is we’ve always had kind of the same model in March. Two things, really simple. We tell the players we want to be us. Why? Because us is pretty good. We’re one of the best teams in the country. We’re going to get a nice seed, at-large bid in the tournament. Let’s not show up to the NCAA tournament and be somebody we’re not. Let’s be the best version of us.
“Secondly, we want to have some fun along the way.”
Yeah, it’s a business trip, no doubt about it. Man, you work your whole life in coaching and playing to play in the NCAA tournament, so let’s don’t forget that. Let’s enjoy every practice, shoot-around, bus trip, the camaraderie, the hotels, the meals. You know this, man, the meals in the NCAA tournament are really, really good. Nobody even skips the salad portion of the meals because the salad looks like you’re at one of those Brazilian steakhouses.
We’re going to get some gear and enjoy ourselves. We’re going to smell the roses, as we call it. That’s always been our plan in March. Sounds simple, but to me that’s the way to do it. Be the best version of yourself, be us, smell the roses along the way, play with fun, enjoy.
Our timeouts, we got guys smiling with joy. We got a chance, let’s go try to win this game. That’s always been our message in March and will be this week, as well.
According to Ben Garrett on3.com article https://www.on3.com/teams/ole-miss-rebels/news/ole-miss-rebels-basketball-ncaa-tournament-sec-tournament-auburn-tigers-chris-beard/
Tip off is set for 4:05pm from Fiserv Forum!
The game is going to be televised on TNT with Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy, Lauren Shehadi commentating!