Ole Miss builds huge lead, then fends off North Carolina

MILWAUKEE -- Sean Pedulla had 20 points and Dre Davis added 15 as sixth-seeded Ole Miss staved off 11th-seeded North Carolina's second-half rally for a 71-64 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's South Region on Friday. Ole Miss (23-11) advanced to the second round Sunday against third-seeded Iowa State (25-9), which rolled past 14th-seeded Lipscomb 82-55 in the first game. "A really good win for us," Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said. "A lot of respect for our opponent. First half was one of our best halves of the year. That's what it takes in the NCAA Tournament. Second half, we'd like a lot of things back. Give North Carolina credit. We knew the comeback was coming. Sure enough, it did." North Carolina, which trailed by 22 early in the second half, closed within 66-64 on RJ Davis' three-point play with 1:09 left. Pedulla countered with a 3-pointer from the top left to make it 69-64. The Tar Heels missed a 3-pointer on their next possession and Pedulla hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 71-64 with 34 seconds left. North Carolina missed its final six shots. "We know that North Carolina is a super-talented team, so if they went on a run, it's not about panicking, just staying poised," Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray said. "We have a veteran team, we've been through this before. Just calm down, execute plays, and get stops." Davis had 15 points and Ven-Allen Lubin 14 for the Tar Heels (23-14), who shot 38.1 percent from the field and made just 5 of 24 attempts from 3-point range (20.8 percent). The Tar Heels got back in it with an 11-0 run, pulling within 63-59 on a thunderous dunk by Jalen Washington with just over five minutes left. "There was only two choices coming out in the second half, either to respond with that same type of fight or get embarrassed," North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. "And I was really proud of how our guys fought back competitively and got back into the game." North Carolina missed layups on its next three possessions before Pedulla scored on a drive to put Ole Miss up 65-59 with 2:56 remaining. Ole Miss led 44-26 at the half and stretched it to 50-28 on a jumper from the paint by Jaemyn Brakefield with 17:48 left. "They brought the physical, competitive fight in the first half," Hubert Davis said. "Every category, every angle, in regards to physicality, they not only won in the first half, they dominated us." The Tar Heels cut the lead to 56-43 on a turning one-hander from the lane by Washington, but Pedulla answered with a three-point play at the other end. Ole Miss hit 11 of its first 14 shots, including six of seven beyond the arc, for a double-digit lead midway through the first half. Dre Davis' jumper from the paint put the Rebels up 29-14 with just over nine minutes remaining in the first half. The Rebels hit just one of their final nine shots of the half, but still shot 51.9 percent, including 7 of 13 from deep (53.8 percent). Ole Miss had 10 assists on its 14 first-half field goals. --Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media