Notre Dame Basketball: 3 takeaways from disappointing loss to Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - DECEMBER 18: Trayce Jackson-Davis #23 of the Indiana Hoosiers blocks the shot of Paul Atkinson Jr #20 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the 2021 Crossroads Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on December 18, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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Notre Dame Basketball (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Shooting poorly from three, plus not defending it well

It is no secret that for this Notre Dame team to be competitive they have to shoot it well from beyond the 3-point line. The Irish shot 4-22 on the day which equals 18.2%. Those numbers are just not going to cut it no matter who you play against on any given night.

What is so disappointing is that just last week they were able to knock down seven three-point field goals to shoot at least over 30 percent from three-point range. The Irish were even better on defense limiting the Wildcats to 2-19 on the night from downtown. Flash forward just a week later and the Irish gave up eight three-point field goals to the Hoosiers. Indiana was able to shoot 40% on the afternoon from distance as well. They were clean looks on Saturday compared to contested threes last week against Kentucky.

Hard to blame this all on the defense when the offense could not even get to 60 points in the game. If we are being honest the defense has not been the biggest problem with Notre Dame so far this year either. As a unit, they will need to guard better heading into ACC play very soon if the offense continues to not score points overall moving forward.

Turnovers, turnovers, and more turnovers

There are three things that are guaranteed in life. Death, taxes, and Notre Dame not turning over the ball. Well, the last one is usually true but it definitely was not against Indiana on Saturday.

The Irish had 14 turnovers on the day which may not seem like a lot but it definitely was if you regularly watch Notre Dame games. The turnovers came in forces too. Forced unnecessary passes, mental mistakes, you name it. When you are an older team like Notre Dame you just assume that they would take care of the ball. It just did not happen on Saturday against Indiana and it helped to cost them in the end with possibly getting a victory. I do not have the exact number but the Hoosiers were able to capitalize and turn a lot of the Notre Dame turnovers into points.

When you are not shooting it well like Notre Dame was on Saturday you have to take care of the ball. If you do not take care of the ball, or shoot it well you are almost always going to lose the game. That is exactly what happened to Notre Dame.

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