Hoosiers rally to beat Notre Dame 80-73 at Crossroads Classic
By ANDY PROFFET
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS — It won’t go down as a masterpiece of basketball efficiency. But it will go down as the largest comeback in the Tom Crean era at Indiana.
The Hoosiers trailed by 16 points twice in the second half Saturday against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic. It would have been easy, maybe even expected, for the Hoosiers to follow the same path they had against their other marquee opponents during the nonconference schedule.
But the Irish stopped making shots and the Hoosiers started making shots and when it was over, the Hoosiers had an 80-73 win, and a winning streak in the Crossroads Classic.
IU will be back at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in March for the Big Ten Tournament. There’s a lot of season left to play, but the lessons from this win can go a long way to helping IU traverse the Big Ten schedule.
“We let our lack of offense dictate our mindset too much in the first half, and that can’t be,” Crean said. “It made us a little slower defensively, not as locked in on a couple of rotations, and we can’t have that. That’s the kind of stuff we’ve got to negate and get rid of. But the way they won it in the second half, I hope they can continue to build off of.”
Here are highlights, from the Big Ten Network:
WATCH: Highlights from Indiana’s 80-73 win over Notre Dame. #iubb https://t.co/Fy14hIp9lo
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) December 19, 2015
IU was up 5-0 to start the game thanks to Robert Johnson, who finished with 17 points. But for the first 30 minutes or so of game time, the Hoosiers had no answer for Bonzie Colson, V.J. Beachem and Zach Auguste.
Colson came into Saturday’s game averaging 9 points while shooting 50 percent from the field. He hit his first six shots and 7-of-8 in the first half to have a season-high 16 points at the break.
He finished with a career-high 24 points on a career-best 11 baskets.
Add Beachem, who finished 7-of-10, and Auguste, who was 6-of-8, and the Irish were shooting lights out for awhile.
It wouldn’t last, though. The Irish closed the game shooting 0-for-7, giving the Hoosiers just enough room to battle back from a 56-40 deficit.
“We let one slip away,” Beachem said. “We’ve got to be better defensively and on the glass.”
The Irish will have two more chances to fix their issues before ACC play, with home games against Youngstown State on Monday and Liberty on Dec. 29.
The Hoosiers, meanwhile, will almost assuredly take a 10-3 record into Big Ten play, with Kennesaw State (3-10) the last nonconference opponent, on Tuesday.
