INDIANAPOLIS — Notre Dame might be tired of the Crossroads Classic, but it still showed up to play in the last one. With the jury still out on what type of team this is, some might have been a little surprised to see it play well against Indiana in the first half. Whatever the Irish are, they’ll be happy to have only a 30-27 deficit against the Hoosiers at halftime.
Shortly after the Irish fell behind, 8-7, with a little over five minutes gone, Paul Atkinson Jr. made a jumper to give his team a lead it would not relinquish until two-and-a-half minutes remained in the first half. A mostly decent display of offense (though it was both sloppy and nonexistent in the final minutes) and timely defense in which it forced several turnovers put the Irish in great position in front of a mostly pro-Hoosiers crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Barring a dramatic reversal in the second half, this will be far from a cakewalk, unlike the Purdue-Butler game that took place right before this one.
Blake Wesley is primed for another big game after leading the Irish with eight first-half points. Dane Goodwin isn’t far behind with seven, so the two players everyone is keeping their eye on have not disappointed so far. Atkinson has been superb on defense with five rebounds and three steals.