North Carolina vs. Ole Miss: Box score, stats, game summary and more ft. Sean Pedulla

No. 6 seed Ole Miss looked to be running away with its first-round game with No. 11 seed North Carolina. The Tar Heels made it interesting late, but the Rebels held on for a 71-64 win. Ole Miss will now face No. 3 seed Iowa State on Sunday in a second-round NCAA Tournament game with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

North Carolina vs. Ole Miss Box Score

North Carolina

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
V. Lubin	14	2	0	0	1	0	5	16
R. Davis	15	3	3	1	0	0	1	37
S. Trimble	9	4	0	1	0	1	3	27
D. Powell	8	7	4	1	1	0	1	37
E. Cadeau	4	4	8	4	0	3	2	35
J. Washington	8	8	0	0	1	1	2	17
J. Withers	5	2	1	0	0	2	1	16
I. Jackson	1	0	0	1	0	2	2	10
C. Tyson	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	5

Ole Miss

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	MIN
S. Pedulla	20	6	5	2	0	5	0	35
D. Davis	15	8	0	0	1	1	4	28
J. Brakefield	12	3	4	0	0	3	1	27
J. Murray	7	3	2	0	0	1	2	27
D. Barnes	1	4	0	1	0	1	4	19
M. Murrell	8	6	2	2	1	1	3	38
M. Dia	8	5	0	0	1	2	3	18
E. Flafke	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	8

North Carolina vs. Ole Miss Game Summary

Ole Miss jumped out to an 11-2 lead which was indicative of the tone of the first half. North Carolina trimmed the edge to 14-10 on an RJ Davis 3-pointer. Ole Miss then went on another run, stretching its edge to 26-14 on a Jaemyn Brakefield 3-pointer with 10:39 left in the half. North Carolina pulled within 11 points, but Ole Miss took a 44-26 halftime lead.

Ole Miss led by as many as 22 points in the second half. The Rebels still led 63-48 on a Matthew Murrell jumper with 8:55 to play. Carolina then reeled off a run to pull within 63-59 on a Jalen Washington dunk with 5:07 to play. North Carolina pulled with two points on an RJ Davis 3-point play, but Sean Pedulla answered with a 3-pointer that sealed the victory.

The Rebels were led by Pedulla, who had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. His 3-pointer was the biggest shot of the game. Dre Davis added 15 points and eight rebounds. Davis connected on three 3-pointers. Jaemyn Brakefield chipped in 12 points for Ole Miss.

North Carolina was paced by senior RJ Davis's 15 points. Davis shot just 6-for-17. Ven-Allen Lubin chipped in 14 points but fouled out in just 16 minutes of action. Carolina shot just 24-for-63 for the game and despite whittling a 22-point lead to a two-point lead, couldn't finish the comeback.

Ole Miss will now face No. 3 seed Iowa State on Sunday with a Sweet 16 spot on the line.