INDIANAPOLIS — In the opening game of the Annual Crossroads Classic the Purdue Boilermakers and the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish pop the bottle on the festivities in Game 1. Notre Dame let boyz know right out of the gate that they were going to be the aggressor. They attacked the rack all day and moved the ball at will against the Boilermakers as they walked out of the place with an 86-80 win.
Both teams got out of the car being sloppy with the ball before they settled down. Carsen Edwards let his presence be know as soon as he stepped out of the Chevy knocking down his first two shots which were 3-pointers. Notre Dame didn’t trip and went right back at them. Trading buckets and getting work done in the paint with easy looks. The fighting Irish certainly were the aggressors early on shooting 82 percent from the field and 100 percent (3-3) mid-way through the first half because of their easy opportunities in paint.
Purdue couldn’t seem to find a rhythm while Notre Dame continued to score in transition getting easy buckets going to the rack. By the time you bit into your hot dog good and belched the Fightin’ Irish were up 30-18.
Notre Dame continued to get clean looks at the basketball the entire first half. However, the Boilermakers kept fighting to stay in it as they started to find some confidence down the stretch just before the half to close the gap at the break to 36-29.
The Fightin’ Irish shot the lights out of the gym at 54 percent from the field and 44 percent from three point range by the time we got to the half. The Boilermakers were lucky to be down only 7 because they shot a miserable 33 percent from the field and 20 percent from behind the arc. They even were terrible from the foul line shooting 71 percent.
The Boilermakers came out of the break on some “I’ve gotta get my lick back-type attitude.” They looked to be way more aggressive than they were in the first half. Don’t get it twisted, Notre Dame didn’t flinch as they continued to get buckets but it was now a ball game between two fighters.
Here was the problem for the Boilermakers, they had no answer for John Mooney in the blocks. Ole boy was having his way in the paint not to mention all of the open looks that the Irish continued to get.
Then all of a sudden the Boilermakers unleash the secret weapon by the name of Trevion Williams. The 6’9′ 280 pound freshman gave them new life on defense as well as in the paint with less than 4 minutes to go scoring 6 straight points.
That didn’t last very long because the big homie Monney continued to do his thing shooting 6 of 8 from the floor and 3 for 3 from behind the arc finishing with 21 points to lead the Irish to a controlled win over the Purdue Boilermakers. D.J. Harvey was close behind with 19 points, T.J. Gibbs with 12 and Dane Goodwin dropped off 11.
Carsen Edwards led the Boilermakers with 27 points as Trevion Williams followed with 10.