No. 18 North Carolina suffered its first loss of the season, a 93-84 setback to No. 6 Purdue in the Hall of Fame Tipoff at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Carolina (3-1) took its first lead of the game 65-64 with a Dawson Garcia 3-pointer with 9:19 left. But the Boilermakers (4-0) responded quickly.
After Zach Edey tied it with a free throw. Purdue got consecutive 3-pointers from Sasha Stefanovic and Isaiah Thompson and a three-point play from Jaden Ivey to push its lead to 74-65.
The Heels battled back with a 7-0 spurt sparked by Caleb Love’s drive and dunk on Stefanovic. When Brady Manek made a 3-pointer to make it 74-72 with 6:36, that was as close as they’d get the rest of the way.
Carolina will face No. 17 Tennessee on Sunday in the consolation game. The Volunteers lost to No. 5 Villanova, 71-53.
Here is what we learned from the game:
NCAA Tournament game in November
Carolina got a taste of what the road will be like with its win at College of Charleston on Tuesday. Against Purdue, they got a feel of what an NCAA Tournament game could feel like.
Neutral location. Top-ranked team.
The game was physical and intense and could go a long way in helping the Heels get better prepared to play some of the top-ranked teams like UCLA and Michigan left on their non-conference schedule.
Bacot’s rough outing
UNC junior forward Armando Bacot had his worst game of the season, scoring just two points on 1-for-6 shooting with five rebounds before fouling out with 2:44 left in the game.
Bacot, who was the Heels’ second leading scorer at 18.0 points per game, never got into a rhythm while trying to battle Edey on the blocks.
It’s not that Carolina can’t win when Bacot has an off night. But not having him on the floor — he played just 17 minutes — forced Dawson Garcia and Manek to play the 5 spot versus a lineup they did not matchup well against.
Garcia did finish with his best offensive outing yet in a Carolina uniform. The Marquette transfer scored a game-high 26 points.
Appreciate what Leaky brings
UNC senior Leaky Black did not dress out for Saturday’s game with a non-COVID-19-related illness. The Tar Heels missed his defensive presence as they watched Stefanovic knock down four 3-pointers in the first half. Stefanovic finished with five 3s and scored a team-high 23 points.
Black has won the team’s defensive award in their wins over Loyola and College of Charleston. The award was not given out after their performance against Brown in a win.
The 6-foot-8 guard/forward, at the least, could have provided more length to make it difficult to shoot over. Stefanovic entered the game shooting 57.9 percent from 3-point range.
The 7-foot effect
Edey, Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center, had such a presence in the lane defensively that UNC didn’t attempt a free throw in the first half for the first time in seven years.
It wasn’t that Edey was swatting shots into the stands. He actually didn’t have any blocked shots. But the Heels were well aware of where Edey was and by and large steered clear of the lane when he was in the game.
Thanks to foul trouble, Edey played just eight minutes in the first half. But even after he sat on the bench for the final nine minutes, he set a tone. Carolina only scored six points in the paint in the first half.
Edey and forward Trevion Williams were a big reason why both Bacot and Garcia fouled out of the game. They were hard to move on the post and Carolina players trying to keep them from getting position inside is what led to many of their foul calls.
