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NCAA Basketball: Takeaways from 2021 Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic games

By Tristan Freeman

Nov 21, 2021; Uncasville, CT, USA; The Purdue Boilermakes pose with the Hall of Fame Tip Off Tournament Trophy after the game against the Villanova Wildcats at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 21, 2021; Uncasville, CT, USA; The Purdue Boilermakes pose with the Hall of Fame Tip Off Tournament Trophy after the game against the Villanova Wildcats at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Hall of Fame Tip-Off
NCAA Basketball Villanova Wildcats forward Eric Dixon Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /

While the Battle 4 Atlantis and Maui Invitational are the more known NCAA Basketball non-conference Tournaments played during “Feast Week”, the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic was a nice weekend appetizer. It featured four programs who all were ranked heading into the event in North Carolina, Purdue, Tennessee, and Villanova.

All of them had opportunities to get two marquee resume builders for the NCAA Tournament, while also testing themselves early against some of the best competition in the country to see how good they truly were. And even for whoever ended up going 0-2, neither of those losses would be considered “bad”, so there was little to lose for anyone here.

The Wildcats played like they had everything to lose early on, coasting in their semifinal matchup against Tennessee, leading by over 20 points at times to get a comfortable 71-53 win. The game after was a complete 180 in terms of watchability, as Purdue and North Carolina were in a shootout. The Tar Heels had a late lead but the Boilermakers came back and pulled ahead for the 93-84 win.

Unfortunately for the ACC program, North Carolina didn’t have a more competitive 3rd place effort, falling to the Vols on Sunday, 89-72 to leave the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic winless. On the opposite end, Purdue went home with both an unbeaten record and the title, beating Purdue in the finals, 80-74 after making another second-half comeback.

The Boilermakers are looking strong after this weekend but all four NCAA Basketball teams had their bright spots, as well as some things that need to be worked on. Here’s a look at my biggest takeaways from the two-day event.

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