2025 NCAA Tournament 1st-Round Preview:
#11 UNC vs. #6 Ole Miss (Friday, 4:05 p.m., TNT)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

Just three days after North Carolina’s dominant 95-68 victory in Dayton over a San Diego State team with a reputation for brilliant defense, the Tar Heels face a somewhat similar assignment against Ole Miss in Milwaukee, as they try to keep alive the possibility of dancing into the NCAA Tournament’s second week.

Such is life for a “First Four” team, a status Carolina is experiencing for the first time in its illustrious history. Three victories in six days will be required for fourth-year head coach Hubert Davis and the #11 seed Tar Heels to advance to the Sweet 16, with the #6 seed Rebels — another bunch known for stingy defense — standing in the way on Friday (4:05 p.m., TNT).

Against the Aztecs, the Heels showcased one of their greatest qualities in true abundance. While they have many inconsistent, unpredictable offensive players, they are a relative rarity in college basketball this season in that they have at least seven players who are capable of a double-digit scoring output against any opponent at any time.

On Tuesday night, UNC’s clear leader offensively was fifth-year senior guard RJ Davis, who after a slow start this season gradually has returned to the fantastic form that enabled him to earn first-team All-America honors last year. Davis, just a second-team All-ACC honoree this season, finished with 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while converting all six of his 3-point attempts.

Junior guard Seth Trimble (16 points, mostly on drives and free throws), junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin (12 points, mostly on free throws), senior forward Jae’Lyn Withers (10 points and nine rebounds), sophomore point guard Elliot Cadeau (nine points, 12 assists and three steals) and freshman guard Ian Jackson (nine points, all on 3-pointers) also helped Carolina blitz San Diego State’s typically stellar defense in record-setting fashion.

UNC’s battle against Ole Miss likely will be a much bigger challenge, in part because the Rebels offer plenty of offensive versatility themselves, with six players (see below) who average 10 or more points per game.

Under second-year head coach Chris Beard, Ole Miss isn’t a big team by Power Five standards — the smaller-than-usual Tar Heels will be looking at their opponents eye-to-eye for a change — but the Rebels play consistently strong team defense, and they share and handle the ball extremely well offensively.

In particular, the Rebels are among the best teams nationally in the turnovers category. Offensively, they commit few. Defensively, they create many.

Cadeau, who has turned the ball over a league-worst 110 times this season, likely will face tremendous pressure from Ole Miss defenders. Similarly, forwards Withers and Jalen Washington have had turnover problems this season, a fact that also will be included on the Rebels’ scouting report.

Interestingly, among the top six players in the Ole Miss rotation, three started their careers in the Atlantic Coast Conference: senior guard Sean Pedulla (a two-year starter at Virginia Tech), fifth-year guard Dre Davis (Louisville) and senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield (a Duke backup in 2020-21).

BPI/KenPom/KPI/NET Team Rankings (of 364 teams):
North Carolina — 24/30/54/36
Ole Miss — 32/25/18/28

Offensive/Defensive Efficiency Rankings (of 364 teams):
North Carolina — 19/53
Ole Miss — 31/22

2024-25 Ole Miss Rebels
(22-11, 10-8/6th SEC; through March 20)

STARTERS

PG Jaylen Murray*, Sr. (5-11/165) — 2023 St. Peter’s transfer (backup)
31 mpg, 11 ppg, 2 rpg, 41% FG, 83% FT, 38% threes, 116/43 ATO, 7 blocks, 48 steals

G Sean Pedulla, Sr. (6-1/195) — 2024 Virginia Tech transfer (2-year starter)
33 mpg, 15 ppg, 4 rpg, 43% FG, 82% FT, 39% threes, 118/65 ATO, 6 blocks, 60 steals

G Matthew Murrell*, Ss. (6-4/205) — HS signee (top-50 in Class of 2020)
30 mpg, 11 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 80% FT, 31% threes, 54/19 ATO, 6 blocks, 51 steals

G Dre Davis, Ss. (6-6/215) — 2024 Seton Hall transfer (starter)
26 mpg, 10 ppg, 5 rpg, 46% FG, 68% FT, 31% threes, 38/38 ATO, 31 blocks, 32 steals

F Malik Dia, Jr. (6-9/250) — 2024 Belmont transfer (starter)
21 mpg, 11 ppg, 6 rpg, 46% FG, 65% FT, 33% threes, 26/24 ATO, 29 blocks, 23 steals

KEY RESERVES

F Jaemyn Brakefield*, Sr. (6-8/225) — 2021 Duke transfer (backup)
23 mpg, 11 ppg, 4 rpg, 51% FG, 72% FT, 33% threes, 59/38 ATO, 9 blocks, 25 steals

G Davon Barnes, Sr. (6-4/205) — 2024 Sam Houston State transfer (starter)
21 mpg, 5 ppg, 3 rpg, 38% FG, 74% FT, 21% threes, 29/16 ATO, 9 blocks, 24 steals

G Eduardo Klafke, Fr. (6-5/195) — HS signee (top-150 in Class of 2024)
10 mpg, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 46% FG, 55% FT, 50% threes, 15/11 ATO, 7 blocks, 14 steals

F Mikeal Brown-Jones, Sr. (6-8/225) — 2024 UNCG transfer (starter)
10 mpg, 4 ppg, 2 rpg, 48% FG, 76% FT, 18% threes, 11/17 ATO, 15 blocks, 9 steals

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of Rebels’ games last season)

2024-25 North Carolina Tar Heels
(23-13, 13-7/4th ACC; through March 20)

STARTERS

PG Elliot Cadeau*, So., (6-1/180) — HS signee (top-25 in Class of 2023)
28 mpg, 10 ppg, 3 rpg, 46% FG, 67% FT, 34% threes, 223/110 ATO, 10 blocks, 37 steals

G RJ Davis*, Gr., (6-0/180) — HS signee (top-50 in Class of 2020)
34 mpg, 17 ppg, 3 rpg, 42% FG, 88% FT, 36% threes, 132/57 ATO, 3 blocks, 37 steals

G/F Drake Powell, Fr., (6-6/225) — HS signee (top-25 in Class of 2024)
25 mpg, 7 ppg, 3 rpg, 50% FG, 65% FT, 37% threes, 36/27 ATO, 24 blocks, 25 steals

F Jae’Lyn Withers, Gr., (6-9/215) — 2023 Louisville transfer (3-year starter)
18 mpg, 7 ppg, 5 rpg, 49% FG, 72% FT, 44% threes, 25/30 ATO, 13 blocks, 16 steals

F Ven-Allen Lubin, Jr., (6-8/226) — 2024 Vanderbilt transfer (starter)
20 mpg, 9 ppg, 6 rpg, 68% FG, 70% FT, 0 threes, 11/30 ATO, 33 blocks, 14 steals

KEY RESERVES

G Seth Trimble, Jr., (6-3/195) — HS signee (top-50 in Class of 2022)
29 mpg, 12 ppg, 5 rpg, 43% FG, 82% FT, 28% threes, 44/35 ATO, 11 blocks, 45 steals

G Ian Jackson, Fr., (6-5/185) — HS signee (top-10 in Class of 2024)
24 mpg, 12 ppg, 3 rpg, 46% FG, 73% FT, 40% threes, 32/42 ATO, 7 blocks, 19 steals

C Jalen Washington, Jr., (6-10/230) — HS signee (top-50 in Class of 2022)
16 mpg, 6 ppg, 4 rpg, 59% FG, 64% FT, 28% threes, 19/36 ATO, 29 blocks, 10 steals

F Cade Tyson, Gr., (6-6/225) — 2024 Belmont transfer (2-year starter)
8 mpg, 3 ppg, 1 rpg, 41% FG, 56% FT, 30% threes, 2/4 ATO, 1 block, 5 steals

Departures from 2023-24: C Armando Bacot* (Ss./G League), BF Harrison Ingram* (Jr./early NBA entry/San Antonio Spurs), C James Okonkwo (Jr./transfer/Akron), WG Cormac Ryan* (Ss./G League), WG Paxson Wójcik (Ss./Poland)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of UNC’s games last season)