Notre Dame vs. Indiana - Five Things To Know

Dec. 13, 2017

NDMBB vs. Indiana Notes

Indiana MBB Notes vs. ND

WHO: No. 18/18 Notre Dame (8-2) vs. Indiana (5-5)

WHAT: 2017 Crossroads Classic

WHERE: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

WHEN: Saturday, December 16, 2017, 2:30 p.m. ET

TICKETS: Selected tickets still available via the Notre Dame Ticket Exchange

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

Fox national broadcast with Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst) and Lisa Byington (sideline).

Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network with Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Zach Hillesland (analyst).
Available on WatchND.tv, locally at WSBT-AM 960/FM 96.1 and via the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network (affiliates available on page 8 of the notes package).

Here are Five Things To Know about the Notre Dame – Indiana matchup…

IRISH AND IU MEET IN CROSSROADS CLASSIC

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (8-2) takes its yearly trip down US-31 to Indianapolis for the 2017 Crossroads Classic at BankersLife Fieldhouse and face Indiana (5-5) at 2:30 p.m. ET (nationally televised on Fox). Saturday will mark Notre Dame’s seventh appearance in the event and the Irish are 3-3 all-time, including a 1-2 record against the Hoosiers.

NOTRE DAME CROSSROADS CLASSIC HISTORY

NOTRE DAME – INDIANA SERIES HISTORY

Notre Dame and and Indiana will be meeting for the 72nd time on Saturday afternoon. The series dates back to the 1908 season and is the sixth-most prolific in the history of Notre Dame basketball The Hoosiers lead the all-time series 49-22, including 16-7 at neutral sites. Indiana also leads the series 3-5 in the Mike Brey era, but the Irish have been able to claim a victory in three of the last five meetings with IU. See page 10 of this notes package for a complete run down of all 71 previous meetings between the Irish and Hoosiers.

NOTRE DAME INDIANA SERIES – BREY ERA (3-5, Home 0-2, Away 1-1, Neutral 2-2)

VETERAN IRISH TEAM ACCEPTS SEVEN PRE-CONFERENCE ROAD CHALLENGES

Notre Dame plays seven of its first 13 games this season, all of those games occurring before Atlantic Coast Conference play begins, away from Purcell Pavilion. The seven away games before conference play this year marks the most since 2001-02, when Mike Brey’s second Notre Dame team played in the Hawaii-Pacific Thanksgiving tournament (three games), against DePaul in the United Center, at Indiana, at Miami (Ohio) and at Canisius (along with a neutral site game with Alabama in the New Orleans Arena).

Notre Dame finished 22-11 and 10-6 in the BIG EAST and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2001-02.

The Irish join North Carolina and Miami at the only ACC teams this season to play seven games away from their respective home courts before conference play begins.

GEBEN’S BIG MOMENT

Senior forward Martinas Geben has been playing his best basketball at Notre Dame early this season and stepped up in a clutch situation at the 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

With the Irish trailing by a point and three seconds remaning, Geben was fouled on an in-bounds play and sent to the foul line. A consistent free throw shooter in practice, Geben has not seen many opportunities in his career (he was 53-70, .750 percentage, before the two attempts against Wichita State) but stepped up to convert both free throw attempts and provide the game-winning points.

Geben’s final two games in Maui, 10 pts vs. LSU and a career-high matching 12 against Wichita State, mark the first time in his career he has posted back-to-back double-digit scoring games. He also is shooting .723 from the floor this year (34-47).

The single-season record for field goal percentage (minimum of 150 attempts) is .656 by Bruce Flowers in 1978-79.

COLSON PACING THE ACC IN FIVE STATISTICAL CATEGORIES

Bonzie Colson, the Preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, has been backing up that accolade with his play on the court early in the 2017-18 season. Colson is currently the only ACC player to rank among the top five in five different individual statistical categories:

Much more information available via the Game Notes PDF at the top of the page.