Cold shooting dooms UNC in NCAA Tournament exit vs. Ole Miss
Cold shooting dooms UNC in NCAA Tournament exit vs. Ole Miss UNC couldn't overcome an eventual 22-point deficit.
Too many times during their 2024-2025 basketball season, the North Carolina Tar Heels needed late-game comebacks to keep themselves within a fighting chance of victory.
UNC came back from a 20-point deficit against Dayton in the Battle 4 Atlantis, winning 92-90. North Carolina (23-14, 13-7) ACC) nearly shocked Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals, but a missed free throw and lane violation thwarted that comeback attempt.
On Friday, against Ole Miss in their Round of 64 NCAA Tournament matchup, the Tar Heels found themselves in a massive hole once again.
UNC trailed by 18 points at halftime, then later by 22 early in the second half, en route to a 71-64 loss that ended its season. The Rebels' defense forced North Carolina to take shots it didn't want to, while North Carolina's defense couldn't stop a physical Rebels offense.
Tar Heels junior guard Seth Trimble, who recorded nine points, four rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes off the bench, spoke postgame about he and his teammates' slow start.
"We were really lifeless in the first half, Trimble said in a postgame interview transcribed by InsideCarolina. "We had no passion. We had no joy. We looked like the group we were a few months ago."
Head coach Hubert Davis also gave his take on UNC's slow start, pointing to a lack of competitive fight and dealing poorly with Ole Miss' physicality.
"I just know in the first half, we didn't play nearly as well as we needed to play, and what was missing was that competitive fight," Hubert said. "It had nothing to do with Xs and Os. It was just a competitive fight on both ends of the floor, to do the things that we needed to do and needed to execute. And that's why I called an early time-out, to let them know that they were very far from where we needed to be, in order to beat a team like Ole Miss."
North Carolina shot just 38.1 percent (24-of-63) as a team, with an ice-cold 5-of-24 mark from deep. The Tar Heels couldn't break the Rebels' physicality and defense early, which later cost them and ended their season.
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