Marquette’s Jones, New Mexico’s Dent headline intriguing guard matchup in South Region

By Canadian Press on March 20, 2025.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Marquette’s Kam Jones and New Mexico’s Donovan Dent will face each other Friday night in an intriguing NCAA Tournament first-round matchup of do-everything guards.

Jones and the seventh-seeded Golden Eagles take on Dent and the 10th-seeded Lobos in Cleveland in a South Region game.

Jones was an AP All-America second-team selection for the Golden Eagles (23-10) after being third in the Big East in scoring at 18.9 points per game and second in assists (6.1 per game).

Dent, the Mountain West Player of the Year and an honorable mention All-America pick, is the only player in Division I averaging at least 20 points (20.6) and six assists (6.4).

“I told the guys when we first started introducing New Mexico, understand this: He averages more points per game than Kam and more assists per game, in a league that’s comparable,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “We’ve got five teams in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountain West got four. So it’s a heck of a challenge.”

The matchup extends beyond Jones and Dent. Marquette’s Stevie Mitchell will be tasked with defending Dent, while Tru Washington of New Mexico (26-7) gets the assignment in guarding Jones.

Dent said he is expecting a physical matchup against the Golden Eagles.

“We think on the defense side, they remind us a lot of San Diego State. They run a lot of 1 through 5. And we have to attack 1-on-1 to really get the matchup we want,” Dent said.

Friday’s slate

South Region play starts with an afternoon doubleheader in Milwaukee. Third-seeded Iowa State faces No. 14 seed Lipscomb, followed by sixth-seeded Mississippi taking on No. 11 North Carolina.

Region action shifts to Cleveland at night with Marquette-New Mexico first up, with second-seeded Michigan State and No. 15 Bryant as the nightcap.

On this road before

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been called many things. Superstitious and a believer in omens are not two of them.

The Spartans (27-6) begin this year’s NCAA Tournament in Cleveland with a first-round matchup against Bryant (23-11). The last time Michigan State went through Cleveland, it won a national championship in 2000.

“I just wish it worked that way, but I’m not sure that’s God’s plan. It’s great. It brings back good memories. But the sad part is, none of my guys were born then,” Izzo said. “I’m not sure they’re thinking, whoa, yeah, we started back then. I’ll never forget it, even though it’s been too long ago.”

The other difference is that the Spartans’ games in 2000 took place at Cleveland State’s arena, which is 1.3 miles from the downtown Cleveland arena and site of this weekend’s games. The home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers is hosting games for the third time.

Izzo also knows that a No. 2 seed in no way is a guarantee out of the first round. He still has memories of a 90-81 loss to 15 seed Middle Tennessee in 2016.

Bryant is third in Division I in blocked shots (6.0) and fourth in rebounds (41.2). Fifth-year senior Earl Timberlake is the first player in America East Conference history to average at least 15 points (15.5), eight rebounds (8.2), 4.5 assists (4.7) and 1.5 blocked shots in a season.

Familiar foe

Ole Miss encountered just about every kind of test imaginable this season from playing in the Southeastern Conference, which sent a record 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels’ first-round opponent – North Carolina – has a style of play that reminds them of one particular SEC team.

“I’d say the pace they play at – they like to get out in transition and play a really fast pace – kind of reminds us of Alabama a little bit, how they like to score in the first seven or eight seconds of a possession, kind of (get) it ahead in transition,” Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla said. “I feel like there are some similarities between them and Alabama.”

Rebels guard Jaylen Murray also brought up the Alabama comparison while talking about how North Carolina likes to get up and down the floor.

Ole Miss (22-11) got arguably its biggest win of the season on Jan. 14 when it won 74-64 at then-No. 4 Alabama. The Rebels believe that could help them prepare for what they might see from North Carolina (23-13).

This game represents an interesting matchup between North Carolina’s offense and Ole Miss’ defense.

North Carolina ranks 18th in the nation in offensive efficiency and has committed 10.8 turnovers per game, the third-lowest average in school history. Ole Miss ranks 12th in turnover margin.

“They hang their hat on the way they play defensively,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis.

North Carolina didn’t bother returning to Chapel Hill after its 95-68 First Four blowout of San Diego State on Tuesday night. The Tar Heels instead caught a 2:30 a.m. flight from Dayton to Milwaukee, where Friday’s game is taking place.

Homecoming for Lipscomb’s Ognacevic

Lipscomb’s first-round game against No. 3 seed Iowa State (24-9) represents a homecoming for Atlantic Sun player of the year Jacob Ognacevic, who grew up just over an hour away from Milwaukee in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

It also could represent something of an audition for Ognacevic, a 6-8 forward who intends to enter the transfer portal after Lipscomb’s postseason run has ended. Ognacevic missed the 2023-24 season with a bone bruise in his right knee but has come back to average 20.1 points and 8.1 rebounds this season for the 14th-seeded Bisons (25-9).

“He’s going into the portal this year,” Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff said. “He’s graduated. I’m fine with that. He’s been a great player for us for four years. Go do it. Good for you. I felt like we were loyal to him, and it worked out as well.”

For now, Ognacevic is looking forward to playing close to home in front of his family and friends. The contingent of Ognacevic fans attending Friday’s game isn’t quite as large as it might have been in other circumstances.

Ognacevic graduated from Lutheran High School, which is playing a state semifinal in Madison, Wisconsin, a little before Lipscomb’s game tips off on Friday.

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this story.

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Joe Reedy, The Associated Press