Meet The Opponent: Archie Miller Breaks Down Notre Dame

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The ninth version of the Crossroads Classic is on Saturday, and this go-round, Indiana gets Notre Dame in the early game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. These two teams like to play different styles, so it's going to be a battle of wills.

The Hoosiers and Irish tip off at Noon ET (TV: ESPN). Purdue and No. 17 Butler will follow in this annual statewide get-together. Indiana comes into the game with a 10-1 record, with the only loss on the road to Wisconsin.

The Fighting Irish are 8-3, with two of the losses coming to top-10 teams, No. 9 at the time North Carolina and No. 3 at the time Maryland.

Indiana coach Archie Miller met with the media Friday and talked about what makes Notre Dame so tough to beat. Here are three things Indiana needs to do against Notre Dame's strengths:

1. Impose Indiana's style of play on Notre Dame

Notre Dame "plays hard and plays smart without fouling,'' Indiana coach Archie Miller said, and that runs counter to the way Indiana likes to play. The Hoosiers are No. 1 in the country in getting to the foul line, averaging 29.4 shots a game.

Notre Dame is No. 2 in the country in personal fouls, getting whistled for just 12.1 fouls pr game. So something has to give there.

"They are very disciplined,'' Miller said. "So when you flip that, with our style of play, can we execute longer in the possession to get fouled? That's going to be one of the story line to the game. Can we get to the foul line?''

2. Keep Notre Dame's John Mooney off the boards

It seems like John Mooney has been at Notre Dame forever, and he's making the most of his senior year so far. He is No. 1 in the country in rebounding, averaging 13.4 points per game. Singlehandedly, he can be a difference-maker in a game.

"He's got a great motor and he plays hard all the time,'' Miller said. "He's got mitts, so to speak. When he gets his hands on the ball, it's his ball. And he's a great two-hands rebounder. He's the type of player you've just got to keep him off the offensive glass, too.''

3. Disrupting Notre Dame's offense with tighter defense

Notre Dame runs its offense efficiently, something that's always been a trait with Mike Brey-led teams. The Irish lead the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.82. Notre Dame has 195 assists this season and only 107 turnovers. When you're No. 1 at anything, it takes something special to derail the Irish and not let them get comfortable running their offense.

"Our guards have to do a better job of holding their own in defending the ball one-one one,'' Miller said. "We have to defend their backcourt in a better fashion and have to put better pressure on them in one-on-one situations and not rely on team defense so much.

"They can really shoot the ball from five positions on the floor. They're traditional in their MO of not turning the ball over, and they are very hard to speed up. They do a very good job of playing together, and are a very poised team offensively. We have our work cut out for us, defensively in particular.''

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