The Indiana State Sycamores registered college basketball's first big upset of the season with a 83-70 win on the road over No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday.
Indiana State vs. Notre Dame final score: Sycamores pull off road upset, 83-70
Indiana State went on the road and beat a Top 25 team. College basketball, ya’ll.
Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Junior forward Justin Gant, who came into the game averaging just 6.5 points, led the way for the Sycamores with 17 points. Sophomore guard-forward Khristian Smith added 15 of his own.
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Eric Atkins led Notre Dame with 18, Jerian Grant notched 17 and Pat Connaughton chipped in 16 but no other Fighting Irish scored over six points.
The Sycamores, as a team, shot 48 percent from the floor while the Fighting Irish hit just 37 percent of their shots.
ISU controlled the game early and went into halftime with a 40-30 lead.
At the beginning of the second half, it looked as though the Fighting Irish were going to regain control and run away with the lead. They regained the lead 45-44 after sophomore forward Austin Burgett finished an and-1 bucket but ISU recovered with poise to extend the lead back to nine moments later.
Mid-major teams typically lay down and die when momentum is snatched from under them. Not Indiana State.
The Sycamores remained calm and collected as they sunk shots, played stout defense and recaptured the lead, extending it to 14 with 7:49 remaining. They calmly sunk free throws and didn’t turn the ball over the final minutes to seal the road victory.
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