Who was this team in the first half?
Think about the North Carolina team you saw on Tuesday night. They were energetic, engaged, focused, and fired up. That same team was sleep walking in the first half against Ole Miss. The got lost on their opening defensive sequence and gave up an inbounds play dunk to Dre Davis, who went on to have a monster game. The Tar Heels allowed the Rebels to bomb from three, going under screens, or losing their man on simple fade screen action to give up wide open shots in rhythm.
The Rebels obliged this gift of space by hitting 7/13 first half threes (Ole Miss would finish the game with just one more made three) which helped bury UNC in their patented 2024-25 "deep hole." Add to that two missed free throws on the front end of 1-and-1's, which essentially turned those possessions into turnovers, and UNC was in dire straits.
North Carolina had a tremendous second half (after an initial sputter to start the second half, which saw Jae'Lyn Withers get benched for failing to box out and Elliot Cadeau throw an inbounds pass to no one, which was scooped up by Sean Pedulla for a layup) and won that portion of the game by 11. But when you're down 18 at the half, those efforts die in vain.
Hubert Davis did call a timeout in the first half when North Carolina fell behind 11-2 after just 3:15 of game time. But his team just couldn't get a grip on the game, and Ole Miss did their best shooting at the beginning of the game.