Notre Dame Gets Past Purdue 88-80 In Crossroads Classic
Notre Dame (7-3) ended their two-game losing streak with an 88-80 win over Purdue (6-5) in the 2018 Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. Purdue’s Carson Edwards rose up for his 10th three-pointer of the game, but couldn’t get it to go. TJ Gibbs got the rebound and dribbled until the final buzzer rang.
Down the stretch, Notre Dame was able to hit 14 of their 16 free throw attempts in the last two minutes of the game to slow, Purdue’s hopes of making a comeback.
With 2 minutes left in the game, John Mooney rose up from the top-of-the-arch and hit his third three-pointer of the game. The newly assigned captain scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the second half to spark the Irish offense.
Most of the second half, Notre Dame stayed ahead, but on the shoulders of eight-points by Trevion Williams and before Mooney’s dagger three-pointer the Boilermakers were able to cut the lead to seven with just over two minutes to go in the game, 71-64.
Notre Dame shot an excellent 52 percent from the field and also hit 25 of their 29 free throw attempts. Mooney led the way with 21 points and seven rebounds, but DJ Harvey also bucketed 19 points including three from downtown.
Rex Pflueger left late in the second half with a knee injury, but finished with a career-high 10 assists and also added seven points. The senior yet again, did all the little things to help the Irish on both sides of the court.
Purdue shot better in the second half and finished shooting 43 percent from the field and hit six of their nine threes in the closing half. Edwards led the way in the scoring department with a game-high 27 points. Ryan Cline was clutch down the stretch and finished with 15 points. The senior hit a three and drove for two easy layups down the stretch.
Williams was also a big spark for Purdue. He scored 10 points on five of six shooting all in the second half.
Purdue started quickly and opened the game on a 5-0 run after a jumper by Matt Haarms and three-pointer by Edwards on the first two possessions of the game.
However, Notre Dame was able to get on the board when Harvey hit pull-up jumper a minute and a half into the game. Mooney was able to finish with a layup after a Purdue turnover moments later.
The Boilermakers quickly extended the lead to six after Edwards hit his second three of the first half, followed by a turn-around jumper by Nojel Eastern to give them a 10-4 lead over the Irish with 16:32 left in the first half.
On Notre Dame’s next possession, Gibbs swished two threes moments apart to give the Irish their first lead of the game with 15:09 left in the first half, 12-10. The game went back and forth for a few minutes until Notre Dame’s offense caught fire.
The Irish had control of the game with a 12-point lead, 30-18 after a 14-2 run sparked by good defense and hot shooting by the offense as a whole. Notre Dame went into the half up 36-27.
Notre Dame shot 54 percent from the field and also hit four of nine three-pointers in the first half. They also hit all six of their free throws. Harvey led the Irish with seven points, but the difference maker was Pflueger who scored five points and tallied a career-high seven assists.
Purdue shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half and hit just three of their 15 three-point attempts. Edwards paced the Boilermakers with 12 points.
