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