Roy Williams was a little too late pursuing Dee Bost. Today, in the second round of the NIT, the North Carolina coach gets to see up close what he missed out on.

Bost, Mississippi State’s sophomore point guard, grew up in Concord, N.C., and dreamed of playing for the Tar Heels one day. Alas, he never got a serious look from them until he’d already committed to the Bulldogs the summer following his senior year at Concord High.

“I just loved him. In fact, somebody told us out in (Las) Vegas that he may be decommitting, and he’d already committed to Mississippi State at that point,” Williams said. “After that, there’s no question we recruited him. I watched him play three games, I guess, out in Vegas. I just thought he was great, and we wanted another guard in that class anyway.”

But Bost, who’d been to a handful of UNC games, was firm on his commitment to Rick Stansbury’s squad.

“I already had my mind made up,” Bost said. “It wasn’t hard. I wanted to go somewhere that I could play right away.”

He’s done that at MSU, which tips off against UNC at 11 a.m. on ESPN. Bost hasn’t missed a start since arriving in Starkville from Hargrave Military Academy, where he spent a year following high school. For this season, he’s averaging 13.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, and he had 18 points and six assists in Tuesday’s 81-67 win over Jackson State.

Wake-up call

Bost admitted after that game that a punch to his nether regions from JSU’s Phillip Williams in the second half woke him up, and he went on to score 15 points after that as MSU (24-11) broke open a close game. He’ll have plenty of motivation today, obviously.

“It’s special because it’s my home state, my home team,” Bost said.

He’s familiar with a couple of Tar Heels. Bost played briefly with reserve guard Justin Watts in AAU ball and faced off against starter Will Graves in the 2007 Class 3A state title game, which Concord won.

Today, Bost will likely match up with sophomore Larry Drew II, who’s averaging 8.4 points and 6.0 assists per game. For the record, Bost’s groin is fine, although the hip he injured in the final regular season game is a little sore. He should be OK.

“I don’t think there has been anybody all year long that Dee hasn’t matched up with,” Stansbury said. “You take the best point guards in the country we’ve gone against, I never went into a game, not once this year, thinking we had a bad matchup at the point guard spot.”

Williams is no less impressed with Bost now than he was a few years ago. He likes the makeup of the rest of MSU’s team, too, from Jarvis Varnado’s presence inside to State’s 3-point shooters to the defense.

Bruised Heels

North Carolina (17-16), on paper, has more talent than MSU. The defending national champions’ roster boasts seven McDonald’s All-Americans, and the Tar Heels were a preseason top-10 team.

But injuries – particularly to starter Ed Davis – have hindered Williams’ club all season. Davis is done due to a broken wrist, and other key players have missed time with injury.

“The bottom line is, I have not done a good job myself in having been able to get them to play as effectively as we want. So that’s the way you stand here 17-16,” said Williams, who’s guided his alma mater to two national titles since arriving from Kansas in 2003.

For Stansbury, though, it’s still North Carolina. The name on that jersey means something.

“You can’t look at their record and get a real impression of what they are,” said Stansbury. “They lost some very close games and five of their nine guys that play now are McDonald All-Americans. They played against the best and had chances to win.”

Contact Brad Locke at 678-1571 or brad.locke@djournal.com.

North Carolina at Mississippi State

- TV: ESPN, 11 a.m.

- Radio: MSU Network; XM Channel 199.

- Series: UNC leads 4-0.

- Last meeting: UNC, 84-80 in 1965.

- Coaches – UNC: Roy Williams (611-154, 22nd year overall; 193-53, 7th year at UNC); MSU: Rick Stansbury (255-139, 12th year).

- Notes: UNC is the first non-SEC national champion to visit Starkville. … MSU advanced by beating Jackson State, 81-67. UNC defeated William & Mary, 80-72. … UNC has seven McDonald's All-Americans on its roster. MSU has one, Renardo Sidney, but he's been ruled ineligible to play this season. … MSU and Carolina have one common opponent, Kentucky. UNC lost to the Wildcats, 68-66, in Lexington on Dec. 5. … MSU's Jarvis Varnado needs five blocks to break his own SEC single-season record of 170, set last year. … State is 0-5 when teams shoot 45 percent or better from the field.

Brad Locke

North Carolina (17-16)

Likely starters Pts. Rebs. Also

G Marcus Ginyard 6-5 Sr. 8.2 4.7 2.9as

G Larry Drew II 6-2 So. 8.4 2.5 6.0as

F Will Graves 6-6 Jr. 9.3 4.7 80.7%FT

F Deon Thompson 6-9 Sr. 13.8 6.3 1.1st

F John Henson 6-10 Fr. 5.3 4.2 1.6bl

Key reserves

F Tyler Zeller 7-0 So. 9.6 4.7

G Dexter Strickland 6-3 Fr. 5.4 1.5

G Leslie McDonald 6-4 Fr. 3.5 1.6

Mississippi State (24-11)

Likely starters Pts. Rebs. Also

G Dee Bost 6-2 So. 13.0 4.4 5.3as

G Barry Stewart 6-3 Sr. 11.3 3.5 2.7as

G Ravern Johnson 6-7 Jr. 13.2 3.4 48.1%FG

F Kodi Augustus 6-8 Jr. 9.1 5.5 0.9bl

C Jarvis Varnado 6-9 Sr. 13.8 10.3 4.7bl

Key reserves

G Phil Turner 6-3 Jr. 5.4 4.2

F Romero Osby 6-8 So. 4.4 2.6

G Riley Benock 6-4 Jr. 1.7 0.9