Notre Dame Loses 62-60 Heartbreaker To Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS — Once all is said and done and this season is wrapped up in the spring, the final 15 minutes Notre Dame played Saturday in a 62-60 loss to Indiana may end up being the most exhilarating — and heartbreaking — stretch of basketball the Irish play all season.
Not performing well, and left for dead while trailing 44-27 with 15 minutes remaining in this Crossroads Classic game at Bankerslife Fieldhouse in downtown Indy, Notre Dame used a combination of defensive urgency and Hoosier complacency to launch a 32-10 run and move from down 17 to up 59-54 with 3:40 left in the game.
But in the same way Notre Dame came back through the middle stages of the second half, the Hoosiers responded with an 8-1 run to finish the game and sort-of re-steal a win they almost had stolen away from them previously.
Hoosier freshman guard Armaan Franklin hit the game-winning three-pointer with 15.7 seconds remaining in the game.
Notre Dame (8-4) had a couple of possessions to tie or lead again but came up empty and fell to Indiana (11-1) for the third straight time and the fourth time in five meetings in the Campus Crossroads.
“Well, I’m proud of our group because it looked like we were going to get run out of the gym,” Irish coach Mike Brey said afterward, frequently repeating a theme of pride yet disappointment.
“I love how we put ourselves in position but it’s hard to beat good teams even when you get up five with three minutes (remaining).”
Irish sophomore guard Dane Goodwin sparked the comeback offensively, scoring all 15 of his points in the second half on 6-of-12 shooting.
Notre Dame also enjoyed good interior work from senior forward Juwan Durham, who finished with 11 points and four rebounds.
Senior forward John Mooney recorded his ninth double-double this season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but 5-of-13 shooting tarnished his solid stat line.
The lift that helped Notre Dame get back into the game came when it made nine defensive stops on 10 Indiana possessions after switching to a zone look.
“I wish we could’ve dug in defensively in man-to-man better to start the game,” said Brey, whose team fell behind 9-1 early and 34-23 at halftime. “I don’t think we did that at all in the first half so now you’re digging out of a hole. Sometimes you almost don’t deserve to win when you play defense for 15 minutes.”
The message from Brey was disappointingly similar to that after his team stormed back from down double digits in the second half against Boston College, had some late chances to win, but came up one point short, 73-72.
“I love how we gave ourselves a shot,” Brey said, “let’s see if we can finish better.”
Irish Backcourt MIA
Given the Irish were in desperate need of some offense in the first half while Indiana was opening up an early double-digit lead, Notre Dame found very little from its reliable backcourt trio of sophomore Prentiss Hubb and seniors T.J. Gibbs and Rex Pflueger.
With Indiana on a 17-7 run over the last seven minutes of the first half, these three usually reliable and productive Irish players typically stop the bleeding during times like those. But instead, this trio combined for just four points in the half on 2-of-11 field-goal shooting that included 0-of-7 from three-point range.
Improvement was minimal in the second half. This backcourt trio finished the game with only nine points on 4-of-17 shooting, including 0-for-11 from three-point range.
Opportunity Lost
Notre Dame missed out Saturday on an important chance to secure a key win over a Power 5 team on a neutral site as the cruel ACC schedule awaits the Irish after the New Year.
Following a tune-up at home against Alabama A&M, Notre Dame opens its full-time conference slate with road games against Syracuse and NC State before coming home to face No. 3 Louisville.
Adding to the challenge of this three-game ACC stretch over eight days, the Irish are already 0-2 in the league after losing at North Carolina then being upset at home by Boston College.
Hopefully, the disappointment against Indiana won’t weigh too heavily moving forward.
Up Next:
After a week off for winter break, Notre Dame returns to action against Alabama A&M on Sunday, Dec. 29 (noon EST), for the first-ever meeting between these two schools.
Alabama A&M — Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in Normal, Ala. — comes in only 3-7 but off a 92-80 win over North Alabama.
The Bulldogs have struggled on both sides of the court this season, getting outscored by an average of 82-66 per game. The -16 scoring margin ranks 342nd out of 350 Division I men’s basketball teams.
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