Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Notre Dame 81, Purdue 68
When: 4:30 PM ET, Saturday, December 15, 2012
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: # Bo Boroski, # Pat Driscoll, # John Gaffney
Attendance: 19192

No. 22 Notre Dame 81, Purdue 68: Jack Cooley scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Fighting Irish broke open a close game early in the second half and coasted past the Boilermakers in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis.

Leading 39-31 at halftime, Notre Dame (9-1) used a 16-2 run to start the second half to take control and never looked back as the Fighting Irish won their seventh straight while sending Purdue (4-6) to it second straight defeat and third in the last four games.

Eric Atkins had 17 points and seven assists for Notre Dame while Pat Connaughton added 16. Garrick Sherman came off the bench to hit all five of his shots from the field and scored 11.

Cooley, who finished just one rebound shy of his fifth straight double-double, scored 11 in the first half as the Irish shot 57 percent from the field in racing out to a double-digit lead in the opening 20 minutes.

The Boilermakers, who made a run in the second half to draw within nine a couple of times, were led by a pair of freshmen - Rapheal Davis and Ronnie Johnson. Davis scored all of his game-high 21 points in the second half as he connected on 8-of-9 shots. Johnson added 15, with nine of those coming after halftime.

NOTEBOOK: Notre Dame now leads the series with Purdue 21-20 and is 8-2 against the Boilermakers in games played in Indianapolis. ...The Irish, who are third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, had 19 assists and 11 turnovers. ...D.J. Byrd, who had not made a field goal and scored only two points in Purdue's last two Saturday losses (Xavier and Eastern Michigan), tallied 13 points.

Top Game Performances
 
Purdue   Notre Dame
Rapheal Davis 21 Scoring Jack Cooley 18
Terone Johnson 4 Assists Jerian Grant 8
D.J. Byrd 5 Rebounds Jack Cooley 9
Rapheal Davis 4 Free Throws Made Eric Atkins 8
D.J. Byrd 3 Steals Eric Atkins 3
N/A Blocks Jack Cooley 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Purdue 68 41.0 4-12 14-19 10 26 0 5 15
Notre Dame 81 49.1 5-15 24-33 19 35 5 8 12