Rob Phinisee's heave from 25 feet out as time expired gave No. 25 Indiana a 71-68 win over Butler Saturday afternoon in the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis. The three-point win proved to be Indiana's largest lead of the game.

With the win, the Hoosiers improve to 9-2 on the season; Butler falls to 7-3.

"I think it was a heck of a basketball game to watch," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "I'm sure a ton of people tuned in. Our guys had a lot of fight in them. Two really good teams, two really good programs competing. Somebody's got to win, somebody's got to lose. Unfortunately tonight we were on the other side."

Butler led for much of the game, jumping out to an 11-point lead in the first half before taking a 38-34 halftime advantage. Butler's balanced first-half scoring was countered by the Hoosiers' Juwan Morgan, who had 18 points in the opening 20 minutes to keep Indiana in the game.

The Bulldogs opened the second half by hitting their first four attempts from the field, taking a 49-39 lead. Indiana got hot from behind the arc, making six of their first eight in the second half to pull within three at 61-58 with eight minutes to play. The first tie of the half would come at 64-64 after two Morgan free throws with 3:54 to play and Indiana's first lead came at the hands of Morgan at the 3:05 mark (66-64).

The teams would trade single baskets over the next three minutes with Indiana holding a 68-66 lead with 39 seconds to play after a Justin Smith dunk off a nice feed from Phinisee.

Jordan dialed up Kamar Baldwin, who got into the lane and put a right-handed shot high off the glass to tie the game at 68-68 with 23 seconds to play.

Butler's defense took away both Morgan and Romeo Langford in the closing seconds, forcing Phinisee to dribble away from the basket and throw up a contested 25-footer as time expired. It found the net for the win.

Sean McDermott led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including six three-pointers, and six rebounds. Baldwin added 16 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Indiana shot 52 percent from the field with Morgan doing most of that damage, going 12-of-14 for 35 points. Langford had 13.

The Bulldogs have two home games remaining before the holidays, hosting Presbyterian Tuesday and UC-Irvine Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.