Notre Dame falls to Indiana at the Crossroads, 64-56

Notre Dame couldn’t match the same result against the Indiana Hoosiers as they had with Kentucky, and fall 64-56 in a pretty bad basketball game. Blake Wesley (14) and Dane Goodwin (15) combined for 29 points, but team shooting continues to plague this team and the program. The Irish committed a shot clock violation four times in the game, and was sloppy in transition.

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Irish played Indiana tough in the first half. Notre Dame went toe to toe with the Hoosiers on the glass, and the defensive toughness that we saw last week carried over a little bit. Notre Dame was in the lead for most of the first half before hitting a wall in the final three minutes. Despite poor shooting — some of it from shot selection — Notre Dame was doing all of the other things fairly well, and kept it close going into the half, 30-27.

Halfway through the second half, Notre Dame was able to tie the game at 46 a piece with an 11-1 run, but couldn’t find the will to take the lead despite three chances to do so. Cormac Ryan, Prentiss Hubb, and Nate Laszewski were liabilities shooting the ball with a combined tally of 2-13 in the second half. Both shots made were by Hubb — who was 1-5 from behind the three point line in the last 20 minutes.

Notre Dame as a whole was 4-22 for three, while Indiana went 8-20. Trayce Jackson-Davis lead the way for Indiana with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Parker Stewart added another 12 points.

The Irish have two more non-conference games before the ACC season begins (again) against Pitt on December 28.

On a personal level... I’m really glad we won’t have the Crossroads Classic to bring us down every year. Good vibes are on the way.