No. 18 UNC Falls to No. 6 Purdue, 93-84

Despite a stellar performance from transfer Dawson Garcia, UNC could not keep pace with high-powered Purdue.

UNC Coach Hubert Davis suffered his first loss of the season to No. 6 Purdue in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off semifinal, 93-84. With superstar athletes like Jaden Ivey (22), Sasha Stefanovic (23) and Trevion William (20) for Purdue, No. 18 North Carolina simply had to keep up offensively. As head coach Matt Painter said, both teams failed to protect the ball defensively. A sentiment Davis echoed. 

Senior Leaky Black, who was UNC's defensive player in the first three games, did not dress due to a non-Covid-related ailment. Sophomore Kerwin Walton replaced Black for his first start of the season. 

Junior Armando Bacot was held to a quiet game of only two points, with Purdue Zach Edey dominating the paint. The spotlight quickly turned to Dawson Garcia, who scored a season-high 26 points. It was the second-most points in his career, his 19th game in double figures with a made a career-high 10 field goals.

"I was glad I could play my part in the fight tonight," Garcia replied. "It was a physical game; we were told to watch the action before it happens. We have to continue to learn from that."

Garcia's offensive dominance kept UNC in the game, giving them their first lead and only lead with 9:19 when Garcia made a three-point lead for UNC to go ahead, 65-64.

"Dawson was the only one of our bigs that was effective during the game," Hubert Davis said. "Dawson has the ability to stretch the defense for us; he's also an outstanding defensive player. I'm proud of how he played tonight."

Inside, there was nothing the Heels can do. William and Edey completely dominated the inside, hindering Carolina to merely 18 points in the paint. In the last three games, UNC averaged 39 points inside. Tonight is also the third consecutive game, Carolina trailed at halftime.

"As disappointing as it is that we lost tonight, I'm also equally proud of how they competed, particularly in the second half."

Going forward, the Heels will have to control mindless mistakes and reckless ball handling. Tonight, UNC had 14 turnovers. 

"Limiting turnovers were preached before the game, but we made silly mistakes in the first half," RJ Davis noted. "Going forward, we have to be mindful of the entire game, not just the first half."

In every effort to control the game, the Boilermakers had an answer. After Garcia lead breaking three, Purdue immediately responded with a 10-0 run in 1:06 left, snatching the lead back. The Tar Heels only came close again at the 74-72 mark.

Sophomore's RJ Davis and Caleb Love both showed up in the second half in true fashion, with both scoring 18 points to carve out the double digit scoring Heels. Davis scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half. Love has scored in double figures in all four games this season. It was the second time Davis and Garcia scored in double figures this year. With tonight's game, Dawson now becomes the fifth Tar Heel to average double digit scoring. 

Tonight was Purdue’s first win over UNC since 1974 in Madison Square Garden in the NIT.

Up next, UNC will face Tennessee on Sunday, November 21, in Uncasville, Conn at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.