The newest faces of Indiana's basketball program stepped up in their hometown to deliver a 62-60 victory over Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic.
Freshman guard Armaan Franklin paced the Hoosiers with a career-high 17 points. Brunk posted a game-high 14 rebounds by the end of the game, despite the Fighting Irish having the nation's leading rebounder on its roster.
There’s no place like home. Indiana embodied that sentiment behind the performances of its three Indianapolis-area natives in a 62-60 win over Notre Dame inside of Bakers Life Fieldhouse.
“Good to be back in our city,” Indiana junior center Joey Brunk said after the game.
It was those three players that stepped up when the team needed it most. This time a year ago, they weren’t a part of the Hoosiers’ basketball program.
Of the fresh faces entering the program before the start of the season, Brunk offered the largest pool of experience after transferring from Butler. That experience radiated in the first half of the Hoosier’s 2019 rendition of the Crossroads Classic in the state capital.
He was just the second player in the series’ history to play for two of the competing teams during his collegiate career.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller said Brunk played a big role in the victory.
The Fighting Irish entered the matchup having connected on a program-record 35 three-pointers over their past two games. Against the Hoosiers, just two of their 15 shots from beyond the arc went through the net, and Brunk didn’t allow many second-chance opportunities.
The 6-foot-11 center snatched 11 rebounds in the first half, despite Notre Dame boasting the nation’s leader in rebounds per game in senior forward John Mooney.
“Joey was terrific on the glass all game, especially in the first half and second half,” Miller said. “He gave us second-chance opportunities. We've said it all along how this team has to be successful, obviously drawing fouls and being able to win the battle on the glass.”
Brunk tallied eight of his nine points before the opening 20 minutes ticked away. Indiana scored 14 of its first 17 points in the paint, and freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis contributed with six of his own, coupled with a perfect percentage from the floor in the first half.
Indiana kept feeding its forwards in the paint, leading to easy drives against a team that hardly allowed players to get to the free-throw line. That, however, was before freshman guard Armaan Franklin was subbed onto the floor.
Franklin took over for the Hoosiers and exploded for an individual six-point run. First, he knocked down a three-point shot after struggling from that area of the court all season. He tried his luck with a second attempt just 18 seconds later. This time he was fouled.
The freshman from Indianapolis nailed all three free throws, and Brunk followed with another four points before Notre Dame made another basket.
Franklin finished his best stretch of the season with another converted three before the end of the half, and Indiana eventually walked into the locker room with an 11-point lead.
“Armaan was playing really well all game, and sometimes you go with the older guys and sometimes you go a little bit more experienced,” Miller said. “But Armaan had played really well up until that point. We were struggling offensively, and he was the one guy that had made a few plays for us.”
Indiana opened up the second half with much of the same. The team looked to Brunk and Jackson-Davis inside and found success in the post, but Notre Dame caught on and adjusted while Franklin wasn’t in the game.
Brunk compensated by assisting on two scores, despite being held to one point after his first-half performance. With momentum slowing, the Fighting Irish started to claw their way back into the game.
In three minutes, a 12-point lead fell to just three. Notre Dame hit four threes in the second half. With five minutes left to play, sophomore guard Dane Goodwin connected from behind the three-point line and earned the team’s first lead of the game.
Indiana was fighting to put some form of offense together, and it wasn’t until there was 3:42 remaining that Franklin returned to the floor.
After a convincing first-half effort, he continued to energize the offense. Franklin received an inbounds pass and then made a pass to Jackson-Davis, who dunked over Mooney to tie the game at 59.
To finish his career-night, the freshman nailed his fourth three of the afternoon to take a 62-60 lead after the team fell behind in the late stages of the game. Behind the 40 combined points of Franklin — who finished with a team-high 17 — Jackson-Davis and Brunk, the Hoosiers escaped Indianapolis with its 11th win of the season as the team set experience aside.
“I think positivity helps a lot, and there's a lot of belief between all of us and our coaching staff, and we knew we had to stay the course when stuff wasn't quite going our way,” Brunk said. “That's sports. There's ups and downs and we had to stay connected throughout all that.”
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