Purdue Boilermakers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Box Score on Dec 19, 2020

Eric Hunter Jr. had 18 points and eight assists and Sasha Stefanovic added 18 points as Purdue earned its fifth victory in six games with a 88-78 win against Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon at the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Purdue shot 49.2 percent from the field while outscoring Notre Dame (2-4) 26-14 in the paint. The Boilermakers (6-2) also shined from long range, with Stefanovic hitting five 3-pointers and Hunter Jr. making four as Purdue went 14-for-28 from behind the arc.

Mason Gillis had 12 points and nine rebounds for Purdue, while Trevion Williams had 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Fighting Irish stayed afloat despite a scoreless game from leading scorer Prentiss Hubb, who entered play averaging 19.4 points a game. Trey Wertz scored a game-high 27 points, while Cormac Ryan (14), Nate Laszewski (13) and Nikola Djogo (11) followed to round out a balanced attack.

Hubb and Dane Goodwin grabbed six rebounds apiece for Notre Dame.

Rolling behind torrid, 56.7-percent shooting (17-for-30), Purdue led by as many as 15 points in the first half, with Stefanovic leading the way with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Notre Dame responded in the closing stages before halftime, however, ending the first half on a 10-0 run that featured six points from Laszewski and helped the Fighting Irish pull to within 47-42 at the break. Wertz had a game-high 15 points at the half.

After slumping through a 2:52 scoring drought to close the first half, Purdue forced a Notre Dame turnover on the first possession of the second half and converted a second-chance layup on the other end. Another Boilermakers basket stretched the lead back to nine, but Notre Dame charged back again, tying the game on a Djogo 3-pointer with 14:37 to go.

Purdue improved to 2-3 against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic and 3-7 in the event overall. The Fighting Irish lead the all-time series against the Boilermakers 23-22.

--Field Level Media