North Carolina Tar Heels vs Ole Miss Rebels Prediction, 3/21/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Carolina Tar Heels vs Ole Miss Rebels

Date: Friday, March 21, 2025

Location: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI

TV: TNT

Odds/Point Spread: North Carolina (-1)

The North Carolina Tar Heels (23-13) are en route to Fiserv Forum on Friday where they will try to defeat the Ole Miss Rebels (22-11) in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina opens this contest as 1-point favorites from Vegas oddsmakers. The betting total comes in at 155.

The North Carolina Tar Heels took the court against San Diego State and notched a win by a score of 95-68 in their last game. In reference to personal fouls, the Tar Heels ended up walking away with 19 while San Diego State totaled 16 personal fouls. They buried 8 of 27 shots from beyond the arc. San Diego State finished the game shooting 60.9% at the charity stripe by converting 14 of 23 attempts. Moreover, San Diego State snagged 25 rebounds (6 offensive, 19 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. San Diego State earned 11 assists and had 7 steals in the matchup. When talking about defending, North Carolina let their opponent shoot 39.7% from the field on 23 out of 58 shooting. They also dished out 17 dimes for this contest while forcing 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In relation to getting rebounds, they compiled a total of 34 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Tar Heels knocked down 21 of 24 tries for a percentage of 87.5%. North Carolina wrapped up the contest having earned a 52.6% field goal percentage (30 of 57) and made 14 out of their 24 three-point attempts.

Cade Tyson is one guy who was a major factor for the contest. He finished the game shooting 0.0% from the field but had no dimes when the game ended. He played 7 minutes and also totaled 1 rebound. He scored 0 points on 0 out of 2 shooting.

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North Carolina enters this game with a win-loss record of 23-13 for the year. They are averaging 81.2 points per contest (27th in the nation) while going 47.8% from the field. The Tar Heels are connecting on 36.0% on shots from downtown (290 of 805) and 74.2% from the free throw line. As a team, North Carolina is collecting 36.8 rebounds per game and has tallied 530 dimes on the season, which has them ranked 40th in D-1 in terms of passing. They turn it over 10.8 times per contest and as a group are committing 16.8 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Tar Heels are able to force 10.8 turnovers per game while drawing 17.3 fouls. They are 253rd in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 454 conceded for the season. The Tar Heels are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.1% (956 of 2,217) and they concede 33.6 boards per contest as a team. They surrender 33.3% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 264th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (74.8).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Ole Miss Rebels took a defeat with a final score of 62-57 against Auburn. The Rebels were able to pull down 19 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 24 for this contest. They turned it over 9 times, while earning 10 steals for the matchup. Auburn was called for 17 personal fouls in this game which took the Rebels to the free throw line for a total of 17 attempts. They were able to make 13 of them for a clip of 76.5%. In terms of three-point attempts, Ole Miss converted 4 of 23 tries (17.4%). Overall, the Rebels finished shooting 20 out of 53 from the floor which gave them a rate of 37.7%. The Rebels allowed Auburn to convert 23 out of their 51 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 45.1% in the matchup. They finished shooting 28.6% from 3-point land by connecting on 6 out of 21 and ended up going 10 of 15 from the free throw line (66.7%). In relation to team rebounding, Ole Miss allowed Auburn to snag 35 in total (8 on the offensive side).

Dre Davis ended up being a factor for the Rebels for this contest. He made 5 out of 8 for the contest giving him a rate of 62.5%, and accumulated 6 rebounds. He had 12 points in his 30 mins of playing time and had 2 dimes for the matchup.

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Ole Miss has a record of 22-11 for the campaign. The Rebels are committing 18.2 personal fouls every game while shooting 73.8% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.2 times per contest (129th in college) and they turn it over 8.9 times per game. Ole Miss has totaled 2,547 points on the year (77.2 per contest) and they grab 33.1 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Rebels are connecting on 44.2% from the floor, which is ranked 204th in college.

The Rebels on the defensive side of the court are 175th in the nation in points allowed per contest with 71.7. They are able to force 14.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.3% from the field (153rd in college hoops). The Ole Miss defense surrenders 32.7% from downtown (264 of 807) and opponents are making 70.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 14.0 dimes and 37.7 boards per contest, which is 261st and 334th in those categories on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take North Carolina (-1)

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