SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- An early part of a college basketball season that had the making of something special for No. 25 Notre Dame has slipped sideways.Nine days ago, Notre Dame was undefeated and rolling. Two games later, the Irish have lost consecutive games in December for the first time since 2003.How will Notre Dame (9-2) respond from Saturdays 86-81 loss to No. 15 Purdue in the sixth-annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis? Seemingly rolling toward its 10th win, Notre Dame let a 17-point lead slip away with as sluggish a second half as the first was solid.This after an 11-point lead evaporated the previous Saturday in an eight-point loss to top-ranked Villanova. Both second halves exposed the Irish interior defense. The other ranked teams simply were tougher, stronger and quicker to loose balls, to missed shots.The Irish were outhustled and failed to grab a win when a win was there to grab.There wasnt much fight to the Irish. A veteran team should be beyond the funks that saw two seniors -- two captains -- in V.J. Beachem and Steve Vasturia -- go scoreless in the second half Saturday.The first nine games were rather stress-free and fun. That likely was not the case Sunday when the Irish worked their way through snow and wind outside for what promised to be an interesting afternoon inside heading into Mondays game against Colgate (2-9).Notre Dame was not in a happy place following the Villanova loss. After Saturday, that mad meter moved further in the wrong direction.Were definitely even more (ticked) than we were after Villanova, said junior power forward Martinas Geben, who had one of his best games as a collegiate Saturday after going for a season-high nine points with six rebounds and a career-best three assists in a season-best 22 minutes. Weve shown that we can win tough games. Now we just need to execute down the stretch against other teams.Time to look in the mirror. Maybe point a finger or two. Its bound to be a bit unpleasant the next two weeks as Notre Dame works toward the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play, closing quickly on New Years Eve at Pittsburgh.Who are we going to be as a team? wondered junior captain Bonzie Colson. Im tired of saying its a learning experience, but we just gotta toughen up and battle a little bit more and see who were going to be right now.Right now, nobody really knows. The Irish dont. Coach Mike Brey doesnt. He wondered late Saturday afternoon back in Indianapolis what button might be the next to push.How can a team that looked so good, so fluid, so together in the first halves of its two biggest games look so uncertain, so lost in the second half?We got comfortable at halftime, just like the Villanova game, said junior guard Matt Farrell, coming off career highs for points (22) and assists (10) for his first career double-double. We cant get comfortable, man. You just gotta want it more.Weve got to take peoples hearts.Notre Dame is 0-2 against ranked teams. Breys fine with that -- for now.Were not in the league of the two high-level teams weve played, Brey admitted. Weve got a nice team. I love our team.But ... were not in their league right now. Jim Palmer Jersey . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. Caleb Joseph Jersey . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. http://www.theoriolesteamshop.com/Orioles-Cal-Ripken-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Ubaldo Jimenez Jersey . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. 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This was, after all, the school that had overcome a run of five head coaches in five years at one point to win at least a share of four of the last five Sun Belt Conference championships entering this season.It was just exhausting, Anderson said. You dont sleep, because you know youve got the ability to be better than we are ... I just didnt want it to be my fault that we fell apart. Nobody wants to be a part of that.Thanks to a remarkable turnaround from that winless September, the Red Wolves (7-5) were able to help Anderson sleep better -- winning seven of their last eight games to secure a share of the Sun Belt for a fifth time in six seasons. They will cap their season with the schools sixth straight bowl appearance when they face Central Florida (6-6) in the Cure Bowl on Saturday.Despite the good feelings in Jonesboro these days about how the season turned around, the frustration of the early season struggles remains.Anderson blames himself for protecting the Red Wolves during a less-physical set of preseason practices, while players said chemistry was an issue early as a quarterback and several other new starters were settling in.The lowest point came at home on Sept. 24 when the school lost 28-23 to FCS member Central Arkansas, a game in which Arkansas State fumbled five times and committed four turnovers against their in-state foe. That followed three turnovers in a loss to Utah State a week earlier, and it signaled there were more problems than initially thought after early losses to Toledo and Auburn.ddddddddddddIt was so quiet, you could feel the frustration, Red Wolves senior defensive end Chris Odom said of the locker room after the UCA loss. It was like, `We really just lost to an (FCS) school, and were known for winning championship in our conference. That was kind of a reality check for all of us.Arkansas State turned its season around with a 27-26 win over Georgia Southern in its next game, a victory that led to a six-game winning streak and a Sun Belt-clinching win over Texas State to end the regular season.The Red Wolves were fueled by Odom and fellow defensive end JaVon Rolland-Jones, who combined for 24 sacks and 36 tackles for losses on the season. They led a defense that totaled 37 sacks on the season, tied for 12th nationally.More important, Arkansas State relied on the stability of having Anderson for a third straight season to help it overcome its early losses. The former North Carolina offensive coordinator sent a video to the Red Wolves after the UCA loss, a video that featured ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Herm Edwards.Andersons message to the Red Wolves was, Weve got to decide, are we committed or interested?They were committed, he found out, sparking a turnaround Anderson isnt sure could have happened in his first season in 2014.It would have been hard, because there was a lot of trust still being earned, Anderson said. I think weve gotten to a point this year where they know we truly care about them, not just football-wise ... You dont get that without time spent together.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. 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