Marcus Carr addresses familiarity with Purdue, Matt Painter

Texas guard Marcus Carr has faced Matt Painter and Purdue a few times in his college basketball career. With the Longhorns set to take on the Boilermakers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, Carr hopes that past experience will come in handy.

The 6-foot-2 point guard transferred to Texas from Minnesota this past offseason after playing the past two years with the Golden Gophers. Throughout that time, Marcus Carr faced Purdue three times, averaging 17.3 points, 4.7 assists and five rebounds in those contests.

“Yeah, I’ve had some great battles with Purdue and coach Painter,” Carr said in a Saturday press conference ahead of the second round. “They’re a great team. Obviously it’s nice to know an opponent, but me playing them, that was last year and two years ago and this is a whole new season. They’re a great team. They do do a lot of similar things, so I’m sure they’re going to be breaking out their old scouting report on me as well as what I’ve done this year. I’m going to try to help my team and the coaches with just some of their tendencies and stuff they liked to do in the past.”

Carr averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds across his two seasons in Minnesota, but had never played in an NCAA Tournament prior to this year. He has played a big role in helping the Longhorns get there, putting up 11 points and a team-high 3.3 assists per game in 31 starts. Carr continued to make an impact in Texas’ round 1 victory of the NCAA Tournament, finishing with 15 points and a season-high nine assists against Virginia Tech.

He also delivered one of the best all-around moments from Friday, hitting a shot from well behind the half-court line at the end of the first half to send the Longhorns into the locker room with a 34-32 lead. Carr later revealed that he often practices those type of shots, refusing to leave any gym before making at least one bucket from half-court.

Purdue has many of the same players it did when Marcus Carr faced the Boilermakers last season. That includes the dynamic duo of guard Jaden Ivey and 7-foot-4 big man Zach Edey, who have combined for 32.2 points and 12.7 rebounds this season. Purdue dominated its first round matchup against Yale, winning 78-56 behind 22 points from Ivey.

Carr and the Longhorns will look to put an end to that success when they tip off against the Boilermakers at 8:40 p.m. ET Sunday in Milwaukee.