MILWAUKEE — There is no easy way to exit the NCAA Tournament.

A season ends and there is pain. Often, there are tears. One team keeps its season alive, all the possibilities still in front of it, and the loser glumly boards a charter flight and goes home.

North Carolina’s season came to an end Friday and there was pain, and some tears, and a lot of frustration. The Tar Heels, whose entrance to the NCAA Tournament came with controversy, were ousted, 71-64, by the Mississippi Rebels despite a gutsy comeback by the Heels that brought suspense and tension to the final minutes.

The Tar Heels, seeded No. 11 in the South Region, finished 23-14 in a season of ups and downs that seemingly tested everyone’s patience. Ole Miss (23-11), the No. 6 seed, moves on to face Iowa State in Sunday’s second round.

The Tar Heels, after a miserable first half, fell behind by as many as 22 points in the second. But in flashback to their early season comebacks, the Heels gamely got back into it.

Ven-Allen Lubin’s inside score made it a 65-61 game and a driving layup — and three-point play — by R.J. Davis pulled UNC within 66-64.

But Sean Pedulla, the former Virginia Tech guard and a cold-blooded shooter, drained a 3-pointer from the left wing with 52.8 seconds remaining. Moments later, he stepped to the line and drained a pair of free throws and had a game-high 20 points.

When the Heels first began to make their second-half push, getting within 11 points on Drake Powell’s 3-pointer midway through the half, the Rebels always seemed to have an answer.

Whether it was Pedulla throwing in an off-balance shot and drawing a foul — Pedulla hopping off the floor to defiantly cross his arms before the free throw — or Matthew Murrell getting off an inside shot that had the ball bounce two, three times on the rim and fall, the Rebels answered.

But the Tar Heels kept attacking, making defensive stops and looking to run as they did in streaking past

If Ole Miss had any first-game NCAA jitters, it didn’t show early. It’s a team with experience, size and sound structure, and that was a combination that, in the end, proved to be too much for the Tar Heels.

Davis, playing his last game for UNC after five stellar seasons in Chapel Hill, did all he could to keep the Heels in it in the first half with 10 points of his 15 points. He was the one UNC player who appeared to play his game, not speeding up his tempo, taking the jumper when it was there and attacking the basket when he saw an opening.

Davis got little help in the opening half. While it was a homecoming for UNC’s Seth Trimble, a former Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin who grew up outside Milwaukee, he picked up two first-half fouls and mostly sat.

Trimble was more assertive in the second half and a part of the Heels’ comeback.

For UNC, it was a struggle to score baskets in the first half, often just to find a good shot. Or make free throws, adding to their frustration.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Rebels often would collect the rebound, run down and hit a 3.

Ole Miss, which had shot 34% from the arc this season, made six of its first seven 3-pointers Friday as it worked the ball well and freed up shooters.

Davis, a senior guard, made three in a row. Senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield, who played a year at Duke, knocked down a pair of 3s.

The 3-point binge wouldn’t continue but the damage had been done.

The Tar Heels ran up and down the court against San Diego State, collecting points in bunches and thoroughly enjoying the First Four win in Dayton, Ohio. Not Friday in Milwaukee, falling behind 44-26 at halftime.

This was not the UNC team that had won nine of its last 11 games, with both losses to No. 1 Duke. The Heels’ transition game was filled with fits and starts, with little flow to it and players forcing too many shots..

Nor did it help UNC that its half-court offense was strictly one and done. There were no offensive rebounds or put-backs for the Heels as the Rebels owned their defensive board.

Missed shots, missed free throws, unsure ballhandling — it was that kind of opening half for the Heels. And they did not get many favorable whistles from the referees, even as coach Hubert Davis did his best on the sideline to influence that.

Davis ordered up an early timeout after the Rebels broke out to an early 11-2 lead, The Heels steadied a bit but the Rebels kept coming at them.

On a couple of possessions, Rebels big Malik Dia, a 6-9 junior, used his 250 pounds to power through Washington in the paint.

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