North Carolina vs Mississippi Picks and Prediction – 3/21/2025

The 11th-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels play the 6th-seeded Ole Miss Rebels in the first round of the NCAA tournament’s South Region on Friday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. North Carolina defeated 11th-seeded San Diego State 95-68 in its First Four matchup on Tuesday. RJ Davis led North Carolina with 26 points. The Tar Heels held San Diego State to 39.7% shooting and outrebounded the Aztecs 39-28. Keep updated on College Basketball with our college basketball picks.

During the regular season, the leading scorer for North Carolina was RJ Davis, who averaged 17.0 points per game. Ian Jackson was second with an average of 12.4 points per game. Ven-Allen Lubin was the leading rebounder, with an average of 5.6 rebounds per game and Elliot Cadeau was the leader in assists, averaging 6.0 per game. North Carolina scored an average of 80.8 points per game.

The 6th-seeded Ole Miss Rebels completed the regular season 22-11 overall and 10-8 in Southeastern Conference play. Ole Miss lost to Auburn 62-57 in the order finals of the SEC tournament last week. The leading scorer for Ole Miss in the loss was Dre Davis with 12 points. The Rebels shot only 37.7% overall and a disastrous 17.4% from 3-point territory.

During the regular season, Sead Pedulla led Ole Miss in scoring and assists, averaging 14.9 points and 3.6 assists per game. Malik Dia was the leading rebounder, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. Ole Miss had six players who averaged double figures in scoring. Ole Miss averaged 77.2 points per game, shooting 44.2% overall and 34.1% from 3-point territory.

North Carolina is coming off a strong victory and its First Four matchup with San Diego State and will use that momentum to win on Friday when facing the higher-seeded Ole Miss Rebels. North Carolina has covered the number in nine of the last 10, while Ole Miss has failed to cover the number and eight of its last 10. Ole Miss has not played since March 14 and will be affected by the layoff. Final Score Prediction, North Carolina Tar Heels win and cover ATS 79-74.