By RICH ROVITO Associated Press
MILWAUKEE (AP) — On one side of the court, it’s Seth Trimble and North Carolina. On the other, it’s Jaemyn Brakefield and Mississippi.
Two motivated teams facing off in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
North Carolina was a controversial selection when it received an at-large bid on Sunday. But the 11th-seeded Tar Heels posted a dominant 95-68 victory against San Diego State in the First Four on Tuesday night.
Next up is sixth-seeded Ole Miss in a South Region game in Milwaukee.
“We’re the University of North Carolina. We know that whatever we do, there’s going to be hate,” Trimble said. “This isn’t anything new for us. We know how to block it out. We’ve been doing a really good job of that.”
A good job, indeed. Since trailing Duke 52-28 in the ACC semifinals, UNC has been on a tear, outscoring opponents 138-90 over roughly three halves.
“Nothing is going to be handed to us just because we’re North Carolina,” forward Jae’Lyn Withers said. “We don’t have any leeway to get comfortable because we already have people who don’t believe that we should be here.”
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said he has gone to great lengths to encourage his players to block out the noise.
“I always talk to the guys about focusing on what is real. What is real is our preparation and our play,” Davis said. “I think we have a lot more left to prove, not to anyone who doubted us but more to ourselves. Everyone in this locker room knows that we’re capable and that we deserve to be in this tournament.”
Ole Miss also has faced criticism. Despite going 22-11, including a 10-8 record in the rugged SEC, a veteran college basketball analyst labeled Mississippi a “fraud” while predicting a first-round loss.
That didn’t sit well with coach Chris Beard in his second season at Ole Miss.
“Was the guy doing us a favor and giving us some locker room material? We don’t need that,” Beard said. “If I had a younger team, I would have called him and thanked him for saying that because it’s great motivation. But with this older team, we have experienced guys. We spent zero seconds talking about it.”
Opinions, whether positive and negative, come with the territory, Beard said.
“It’s what’s great about college basketball. Everybody’s got an opinion,” he said. “It’s the spice before the game but we really spent no time worrying about that.”
Brakefield said the players quickly brush aside anyone questioning the team’s ability to make a run in the tournament.
“We try to be the best versions of ourselves,” he said. “So, we’re just blocking out all the noise this week and just sticking to ourselves.”
Guard Sean Pedulla said the team should be respected for its work in “ the best conference in college basketball history.”
“We felt like it was kind of silly to be called frauds,” he said.
Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell said the team is mainly focused on soaking in the opportunity of playing in the tournament and facing a marquee program like North Carolina.
“But obviously, as competitors, it’s something that motivates us,” Murrell said.
Forward Malik Dia said the team will have one goal in mind when it takes the court at Fiserv Forum on Friday.
“We’re all about Ole Miss basketball and taking this program to a level it’s never reached,” he said.