No. 6 Purdue Basketball Defeats No. 18 North Carolina 93-84, Will Play Villanova on Sunday
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Sophomore guard Jaden Ivey did it all for No. 6 Purdue basketball in a 93-84 victory over No. 18 North Carolina in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.
Ivey recorded 22 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to notch his first double-double of the year while also finishing with six assists. The Boilermakers were paced by senior guard Sasha Stefanovic's 23 points.
Senior forward Trevion Williams added 20 points off the bench for Purdue. The team has now scored 90 points or more in all four of its matchups to start the 2021-22 season.
North Carolina (3-1) put up a fight in the second half, led by sophomore forward Dawson Garcia's team-high 26 points. He was one of three Tar Heels to finish the game in double figures, alongside sophomore guard RJ Davis and Caleb Love, who both logged 18 points.
Purdue led by as many as 12 points and took a 41-35 lead into the locker room at halftime. However, North Carolina took a one-point lead thanks to a Garcia 3-pointer to make it a 65-64 game with less than 10 minutes left to play.
The Boilermakers punched back with a 10-0 run, which included a 3-point play from Ivey, and never trailed the rest of the way.
Purdue's victory followed a 71-53 win from No. 5 Villanova over No. 17 Tennessee. It was the team's first-ever victory over the Tar Heels. Previously, the two programs had only met twice before Saturday, dating back to Nov. 25, 1998.
The Boilermakers will play the Wildcats in the tournament's championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. North Carolina and Tennessee will play in the consolation game following the first matchup.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.