Indiana falls apart in back half of second half
With 14 minutes remaining in the game and down by 16 points, Notre Dame connected on a layup. That layup would snowball into a massive run for Notre Dame taht eviscerated an Indiana lead carried over from the first half.
The Irish scored six consecutive points before Indiana answered with an Armaan Franklin score. But Notre Dame would score nine more consecutively before adding on another 12-point streak. The run from 14 minutes until Armaan Franklin's three with two minutes left was 29-8.
Joey Brunk Effect
Coming into the game, Notre Dame forward John Mooney was the leading rebounder in the country, and Indiana needed someone to counter that inside presence. The Hoosiers got that response in Joey Brunk.
Early in the game, it was clear that Indiana wanted to run its offense from inside, and taht began with getting the ball into Brunk and Jackson-Davis early. Brunk worked Mooney in the post and found several opportunities, taking seven shots in the first half and hitting four of them.
What stood out the most in Brunk's play was the way he crashed the boards. By halftime, he already had 11 rebounds. No other Hoosier had more than three.
Brunk's presence would be lessened in the second half, as Notre Dame responded by shooting from further outside, but he finished with 14 rebounds.
Notre Dame cold from three
Notre Dame came into the game as one of the most willing three-point shooting teams in the country, deriving more points from three than any of Indiana's other opponents this season. Fifty percent of the Irish's points in the last three games came from the three.
But at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Notre Dame couldn't connect. In the first half, the Irish hit just two of its 15 three-point attempts. Indiana played primarily out of a zone that eventually allowed more opportunities on the inside, but a combination between those defensive efforts and Notre Dame missing its shots, the Irish couldn't convert the threes against Indiana like previous tams have been able to.
Armaan Franklin steps up
Indiana was getting inconsistent guard play in the first half, so Archie Miller inserted freshman guard Armaan Franklin, who made his return to his hometown Saturday. He logged eight minutes and scored nine points before halftime.
His key contributions came in the four minutes before the final media timeout in the first half. Indiana was leading, 20-16, when Franklin hit a three. He followed that possession with three free throws. A couple minutes later, he connected on another three. Indiana scored 15 points between media timeouts, and Franklin contributed nine points to that run.
When no guard seemed to be able to get anything going for Indiana, particularly in the second half, it was Franklin who needed to step up for Indiana. He eventually hit a three to end a 12-0 Notre Dame run to keep the game from getting out of hand, 59-57.
The shot gave him his career-high in points.
He eventually connected on yet another three-point shot from the corner to give Indiana a 62-60 lead with 15.7 seconds remaining.
Inconsistent play from the backcourt
Archie Miller said Friday that he met with the four primary ball handlers – Al Durham Devonte Green, Rob Phinisee and Armaan Franklin – in an effort to help them understand how to work as a unit.
In gameplay on Saturday, though, the guards, outside of Armaan Franklin, were a source of struggle for the Hoosiers.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, the four guards combined for 8-of-23 shooting with six of Indiana's 11 assists.
Even Phinisee, who had been a steady hand in the time that he was on the floor in 2019, seemed to be disoriented by the Notre Dame backcourt defense, and Green made several of the trademark mistakes, such as forcing up shots on the run and making ill-advised passes in traffic.
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