Purdue 88, Notre Dame 78: Luck Runs Out for Irish
By: Dakota Isgrigg | December 20th | @dakota_isgrigg | @BoilerInTexas
The Crossroads Classic has not been an event, historically, that Purdue has excelled in. That said, in the 2020 version of the even the Purdue Boilermakers took on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and held them at arms reach for the whole game eventually coming out on top 88-78.
This was a great game from Purdue, probably the most complete game that Purdue has played to date this season. They played disciplined ball and everyone played their role perfectly.
Three big takeaways from this game
This is still Trevion Williams’ team: Trevion finally seems to have arrived to the 2020 season and decided to be the dominant player we all knew he could be. T-Will finished with 14pts/7reb/2ast/1stl finishing 7-12 from the field on the day. He was unstoppable at moments in the low post and his passing ability forced the Irish to go straight up 1:1 with him in the post where he took his time and picked them apart. It’s nice to see Williams stepping up to the plate this year.
Eric Hunter Jr is the leader of this team: Since the return of Eric Hunter Jr from injury, this team has completely changed. EHJ is that calming experienced presence that this team needed earlier in the season. Since his return he has routinely put in some very important baskets as well as provided a steady hand against defensive pressure. EHJ finished with 18pts/5reb/8ast/3stl.
Stretch bigs will be an issue for the Boilers: While Purdue was able to hold off the Irish in the end, it did show a potential issue that could arise as the season goes on. One of the things to watch coming into this game was the ND big’forwards and their ability to stretch the floor, particularly in their ability to shoot the 3. Purdue’s defense would routinely get out of position when the opposing centers/forwards would extend to the three-point line. It’s something to watch as we continue to move on this year.
Honorable Mention
Mason Gillis has been fantastic this season and he has been so fun to watch in every game. He has shown himself to be uber reliable and he does all of the small things right. He has also continued a streak of not missing! He has a current 10 shot streak where he hasn’t missed going all the way back to his last shot in the Miami game. Gillis finished with 12 points and 9 rebounds going 4-4 from the field, 2-2 from 3, and 2-2 from the line. He has shown all the things fans love to see and I could not be more excited to continue to see him develop.
Purdue gets an extremely tough game next as they travel to Iowa City to take on an Iowa team that just lost to the #1 team in the country on Saturday. It will be a tough game, but last year Purdue beat this Iowa squad twice so who’s to say what will happen!
As Always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!
