NOTRE DAME 81, WICHITA STATE 70
CLEVELAND -- Notre Dame's march through March is picking up speed.
Demetrius Jackson scored 20 points and the third-seeded Irish dominated Wichita State 81-70 in the Midwest regional semifinals on Thursday night to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in 36 years.
The Irish (32-5) shot 75 percent (18 of 24) in the second half, easily pulling away from the seventh-seeded Shockers (30-5). Wichita State took its first and only lead on a layup by Darius Carter early in the second half.
Pat Connaughton added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame and Jerian Grant had nine points and 11 assists as the Irish won their eighth consecutive.
Notre Dame will play either unbeaten Kentucky or West Virginia on Saturday night with a Final Four spot on the line.
Fred VanVleet led Wichita State with 25 points but the Shockers simply couldn't keep up with the sharp-shooting Irish.
The Shockers appeared ready to take control after climbing out of a 13-point deficit to go up 38-37 on Carter's basket with 16:37 to go. Jackson knocked down a three-pointer to put the Irish back in front and Wichita State -- eyeing a rematch with the Wildcats in the regional final after Kentucky ended the Shockers' perfect season last spring -- couldn't respond.
Notre Dame didn't give them a chance.
Once Grant decided to become a distributor after missing all five of his first-half shots, the Irish soared. Notre Dame hit eight consecutive during a 38-18 surge that left Wichita State reeling and pushed the Irish to the Elite Eight for the first time since Bill Laimbeer, Orlando Woolridge and Kelly Tripucka fell to Magic Johnson and eventual national champion Michigan State.
Carter had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Shockers but guard Ron Baker had just nine points and went scoreless in the second half. Wichita State said it had the firepower to keep pace with Notre Dame, but stayed with the Irish for 25 minutes.
The Irish survived two tough opening weekend games, beating Northeastern and Butler by a combined seven points, the advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003 with a strong defense. One key stop late avoided a bracket-busting upset by Northeastern and an emphatic block by Connaughton just before the buzzer helped Notre Dame fend off the Bulldogs in overtime.
Notre Dame rebounded from the worst season of Brey's 15 years in South Bend last winter -- a messy 15-17 slog -- with a sizzling sprint through March that included victories over Duke and North Carolina on its way to an unlikely ACC Tournament triumph.
Wichita State had no such worries last weekend. The Shockers raced past Indiana then dominated in-state rival Kansas.
Baker admitted toppling Kansas was like reaching Cloud Nine but added it doesn't sound so good when Cloud 10 is two steps away.
The Shockers didn't even get halfway there. Notre Dame picked Wichita State apart in the early going. The Irish hit eight of their first 10 shots and led by as many as 13 points before the Shockers settled in behind Carter, Baker and VanVleet.
VanVleet scored Wichita State's final seven points of the first half to pull within 33-30.
Sports on 03/27/2015