Preview: Tar Heels set to face college basketball heavyweights in Hall of Fame Tip-off

After missing a year due to COVID-19, the annual Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament is back, and the No. 18 North Carolina men’s basketball team is playing the No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers in the first round on Saturday at 4 p.m. 

The last time the Tar Heels played in the tournament was in 2013, defeating Louisville 93-84 in the championship round. 

UNC enters the tournament on a three-game win streak after defeating Loyola Maryland and Brown at home and beating Charleston on the road. The Boilermakers also boast a perfect 3-0 record heading into the tournament after besting Bellarmine, Indiana State and Wright State at home. 

A key matchup for the Tar Heels’ tilt with Purdue will likely be against star post players junior Armando Bacot and Boilermakers senior Trevion Williams. 

Williams, a prolific interior scorer, earned preseason All-Big Ten team honors after averaging 15.5 points per game last season, with some of his best games coming against Big Ten opponents. He scored 28, 26 and 24 against Michigan State, Ohio State and Minnesota, respectively. 

Bacot has 10 blocks and two steals after the first three games of the season. Since Bacot will likely be the primary defender on Williams, the Tar Heels will need him to carry over his strong defensive play from the first three games into their matchup against Purdue.

Collective keys to the game for the Tar Heels include taking advantage of the Boilermakers’ porous perimeter defense and limiting turnovers. 

Against Bellarmine, Purdue allowed the Knights’ starting backcourt to score a combined 28 points on 46 percent shooting. Similarly, the Boilermakers’ perimeter defense allowed 25 combined points from the Indiana State starting backcourt on 47 percent shooting and allowed the Wright State backcourt to combine for 38 points on 52 percent shooting.  

Purdue hasn’t played good perimeter defense in its first three games of the season. The Tar Heels will need their backcourt to exploit this weakness and stuff the stat sheet to keep pace with the Boilermakers’ red-hot offense, which is averaging 94.7 points per contest this season.  

The Tar Heels will also need to limit turnovers after their first three opponents took advantage of their errant passes. UNC averages 12 turnovers per game while its opponents score an average of 13 points off those turnovers.

While limiting turnovers any more than the Tar Heels already have this season may be difficult against a Power Five opponent, they’ll certainly need to limit points allowed off them and get back on transition defense against the Boilermakers, a team that’s been opportunistic scoring off turnovers through three games.  

If the Tar Heels beat Purdue, they’ll play the winner of the Tennessee versus Villanova matchup in the championship game, or, if they lose, they will play the loser. Either way, UNC will face a top-25 team in its second game of the tournament.

Despite losing Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer — first-round picks in the 2021 NBA Draft — the No. 17 Volunteers are still a formidable opponent. Led by a quartet of players averaging double-digit scoring figures and hitting 56 percent of their 39 attempted 3-pointers, the Volunteers have outscored opponents 184 to 124 this season. 

Alternatively, the Tar Heels could face No. 5 Villanova, a team that — despite already having one loss early in the season — would still pose a significant challenge. The Wildcats, led by Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, are once again one of the nation’s top teams. The Wildcats showcased just how formidable a squad they are after traveling to the West Coast and taking No. 2 UCLA to overtime, falling just short 86-77. 

Either matchup will be a tough contest for the Tar Heels and will help them gauge where they stand as a team before heading into conference play. 

@coopermetts 

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com