Breakdown: Purdue's win over North Carolina

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Our Breakdown of No. 6 Purdue's 93-84 win over No. 18 North Carolina at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off.

PDF: Purdue-North Carolina stats

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This was Purdue's first chance to really find out about itself, to be tested in a meaningful way for the first time, on a stage the Boilermakers hope to spend so much more of their season playing on.

If there was one big takeaway for the nation's sixth-ranked team following its 93-84 win over No. 18 North Carolina, it might have been this.

"We're resilient," Jaden Ivey said.

Purdue led nearly start to finish, but thanks to North Carolina's penchant for making clutch jumpers and finding second chances in bulk, with 9:15 to play, the Tar Heels led 65-64.

The lead lasted 12 seconds.

Soon after, it was Ivey whose star turn moment seemed to break the game open.

First, he pushed the ball up the floor, and hit Sasha Stefanovic trailing him for a three-pointer.

Then, he pushed the ball up the floor, and hit Isaiah Thompson in the corner for a three-pointer.

Then, he did it himself, driving the lane for an and-one that capped a 10-0 run.

That stretch was a glimpse at the star Ivey might be on the verge of becoming.

He scored plenty — 22 points – but when asked about his six assists against just one turnover, he seemed taken aback at his numbers.

"I just worked on it a lot this summer, being a better playmaker and just trying to make the right reads for my team," Ivey said of his new role as Purdue's most important decision-making and facilitator. "I put in countless hours in the gym and I know there's going to be teams that play me to score the ball and I'm just trying to make the right reads for my teammates."

Ivey's eruption, though, was just one of several Boilermaker bursts that seemed to pop the game wide open, only for North Carolina to rebound — in some cases, literally. The Tar Heels totaled 21 second-chance points to Purdue's five.

After Ivey put Purdue up nine, North Carolina swung back with seven straight points.

Then, Purdue turned to Trevion Williams.

Just because Ivey and Zach Edey figure to take on a measure of the offensive responsibility Williams bore almost solely to start last season doesn't mean he won't be the Boilermakers' closer at times this season.

After he and Edey both sat out the final eight minutes of the first half due to foul problems, Williams scored 10 of his 20 points — in just 13 minutes, by the way — during the final 6:15, after UNC had drawn within two again.

It was simple bully-ball, Williams being guarded one on one in the post.

"At that point in the game, it was just about who was going to be tougher, who was going to be more physical than the other guy," Williams said. "A lot of times, guys try not to foul and our coaches tell us to go right at those dudes. Both (Armando Bacot and Dawson Garcia) were in foul trouble from guarding Zach and when I came in I knew I had to come in aggressive and go at those guys."

Williams' putback with 28 seconds to go gave Purdue its biggest lead of the game at 11 and capped both a showcase of the Boilermakers' offensive potency and their ability to win battles of attrition through its depth.

Purdue has topped 90 points four times in as many games this season. Against Carolina, it shot 56 percent for the game, 44 percent from three-point range, as it kept up its dizzying blend of high-percentage offense at the rim and highly-efficient long range shooting.

Meanwhile, nine Boilermakers played, and at least eight of them made profound contributions to a résumé-caliber non-conference win, while North Carolina's lack of depth was pushed to its breaking point by foul trouble, but masked so often by timely — sometimes lucky — shot-making and offensive rebounding.

Purdue's proliferation of weapons wasn't limited to Ivey and Williams.

Stefanovic scored a team-high 23 points, including four threes in the game's opening 10 minutes that got the Boilermakers off on solid footing.

That says nothing of his eight assists to just one turnover.

He was the face on Saturday of Purdue's continuity from last season revealing itself.

"Our experience has to show in some of these situations," Stefanovic said. "It's easy when you have a 7-foot guy and then Trevion down low. They make everything better.

"But we've really executed. It's just that if we run our plays right, we score most of the time. We have a great system in place. We cut hard, screen and pass the ball pretty well, and when we get open looks, hopefully we can knock them down. Within these first few games, we've done a good job of that."

Purdue has to keep plugging along at defensive improvement, but North Carolina's a terrific offensive team, so context matters there.

But otherwise, Purdue again looked like an elite offensive team with elite personnel and an elite mix of elements, but also a certain completeness.

That completeness came out not only in so many players making big plays — Caleb Furst deserves particular mention — but also in the Boilermakers having to play an extended stretch in the first half without either Williams or Edey on the floor.

Purdue is built to play with one of them on the floor at all times, but the lead was six when they left the game and the lead was six when the halftime buzzer sounded.

The Boilermakers have a lot going for them.

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