Ole Miss Men in the NCAA Tournament: How to watch, start time, TV channel

Ole Miss is the fourth separate program Chris Beard has led to the NCAA Tournament.

The 6-seed Rebels (22-11) are set to face off against 11-seed North Carolina (23-13) on Friday at approximately 3:05 p.m. CT on TNT. The Tar Heels advanced as the winner of a play-in game against San Diego State earlier this week. 

Beard’s about seen it all in March Madness. He’s been a favorite. He’s been an underdog. As Beard said on the ‘Jim Rome Show’ on Thursday, Ole Miss would probably fall in the latter group. 

His Texas Tech Red Raiders were in a similar spot in 2019. They made it all the way to the title game.

“I think if there is one similarity between them all, it’s pretty simple to describe,” Beard said on Thursday. “It’s the players. We’ve had good players on all the teams that we’ve coached that have played in the postseason. This year’s team is no different.

“We have a balanced team. If you’re in this tournament and you get to the second round or the second weekend or ultimately that Monday (championship game), the thing that you can be assured of is you’ve got good players playing their best basketball when it matters most.

“For us, this is March.”

The Tar Heels were quite literally the last team named to the NCAA Tournament field. 

They’re No. 36 in the NET, however, they were 1-12 against Quadrant 1 teams. San Diego State was a Quad 2 and the Tar Heels dominated, 95-68.

“It’s an interesting team to look at,” Beard said. “I know there’s a lot of dialog. But when you get in the guts of their season, just a lot of one- or two-possession games that could have gone the other way and Carolina’s seeding could have been completely different.

“It’s March. It’s a 68-team tournament, and everything you’ve done before doesn’t matter. They’re talented, have great guard play, good interior play (and) have a balance between young talent and experienced players who have been around a long time.

“Defensively, they have a real identity. Offensively, they have an identity, and it’s still North Carolina. The way they can get the ball up the court, feels like Dean Smith’s still sitting over there.”

HOW TO WATCH

Television/Online: TNT
Play-by-Play: Kevin Harlan
Analysts: Dan Bonner and Stan Van Gundy
Reporter: Lauren Shehadi

HOW TO LISTEN

Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Marc Dukes

SERIES HISTORY

Ole Miss and North Carolina are meeting for just the third time ever and the first time since the 1923 SEC Tournament. Ole Miss won, 34-32, however, the Tar Heels got revenge in 1926 with a 38-23 win.

RELATED: Matt Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield NCAA Tournament Round One Preview

SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS

North Carolina in the regular season picked up notable non-conference wins over Memphis, Hawaii, Dayton, Georgia Tech and UCLA. The Tar Hells won 13 ACC games and reached the ACC Tournament. They defeated Notre Dame and Wake Forest before falling to Duke.

RJ Davis is in his fifth season at North Carolina and leads the team in points (15.6). He has 2,710 points for his career, the second-most in school history. 

Davis scored a game-high 26 points against San Diego State. Fellow guard Elliot Cadeau has 211 assists on the year and averages 6.0 per game, second-best in the ACC and Top 20 nationally.

North Carolina is No. 31 in the NCAA in scoring (80.8 ppg) and No. 40 in shooting percentage (47.6). The Tar Heels are also Top 50 in defensive rebounds (26.9 rpg, 39th) and fast-break points per game (12.9, 45th).

Hubert Davis is in his fourth season as North Carolina head coach.

He has 101 wins in Chapel Hill, including two 29-win campaigns in his first and third seasons. He’s won nearly 70 percent (69.7) of his games.

Davis served as an assistant under Roy Williams (2012-21), including in 2017, when the Tar Heels won the national title. Davis spent years with ESPN as an analyst for college basketball following a long and successful career in the NBA. He played with the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets.

“Ole Miss is obviously talented on both ends of the floor,” Davis said of the Rebels. “They hang their hat on the way they play defensively. They do a really good job of creating turnovers, which allows them to get out in transition where they’re really good in transition. They’ve got athleticism. They’re able to switch any type of action, whether it’s on the ball or off, and try to force you and take you out of your offensive sets and force you into a one-on-one situation. 

“For us, especially over the last month, month and a half, we’ve faced a number of teams that switch one through five, on and off the ball. Obviously, Ole Miss does it at an elite level.”