North Carolina, Purdue to Meet in Maui Final

Point guard Ed Cota’s strong play in the second half allowed fourth-ranked North Carolina to overcome an 11-point halftime deficit and defeat Georgetown, 85-79, Tuesday in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

In tonight’s championship game, North Carolina (2-0) will play No. 22 Purdue, which defeated No. 6 Florida, 79-68. It will be the third consecutive season the teams have met in a preseason tournament--with the Tar Heels having defeated the Boilermakers in the final of the Great Alaska Shootout two years ago and the semifinals of the Preseason NIT last year.

Cota had five points in an 11-0 North Carolina run to open the second half and made two throws with 5:03 left to give the Tar Heels the lead for good at 64-62.

Cota finished with 20 points and seven assists, and didn’t commit a turnover in the second half. In the first half, he had two points on one-of-six shooting with two assists and five turnovers.

Anthony Perry led Georgetown (2-1) with 18 points.

Greg McQuay and Jaraan Cornell each scored 19 points to lead Purdue (2-0) past Florida (2-1). Brian Cardinal had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Boilermakers, who never led by less than 15 points in the game’s final 14 minutes.

Florida made only three of 17 three-point shots.

Earlier, Utah State (2-1) was a 70-48 winner over Chaminade (0-2), and will play USC (2-1) in a fifth-place game today.