Notre Dame thrashes Wichita State for Elite Eight berth
Notre Dame rode a 20-7 run from tip-off and never looked back, punching its ticket to the Elite Eight by knocking off Wichita State 81-70.
Chalk it up to a quick start by the Irish or a weak start by the Shockers, but either way, Notre Dame was paced by Demetrius Jackson, who led his squad with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Senior guard Jerian Grant struggled from the field, punching in nine points on 3-of-8 shooting, but his game-high 11 assists was the reason four of his teammates scored in double-digits.
Senior guard Pat Connaughton double-doubled, notching 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Zach Auguste scored 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 night of shooting, while pulling down six rebounds.
Early in the game, Wichita State tried to mitigate the inside game, forcing Notre Dame to the outside. That didn't work out too well as the Irish converted on three of their first four attempts from 3-point range and ended the night with nine 3-pointers made.
From there, miscues ruled the day as Notre Dame missed its remaining seven 3-pointers - most of them uncontested - to end the half.
But whatever head coach Mike Brey said to his team in the locker room worked as the second half was a different story.
Notre Dame owned both ends of the court, scoring 48 points en route to the rout, despite the Shockers scoring 40 points.
The story for Wichita State was its inability to convert the easy shots. Countless lay-ups were botched as the Shockers were 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from the field in the first half.
The perimeter game never panned out, either, as the Shockers bowed out of the tournament thanks in part to an abysmal 3-of-18 mark from 3-point range.
At one point, play-by-play analysts called go-to guard Fred VanVleet the "Supreme Leader" for the Shockers. Despite scoring a game-high 25 points to go with six boards, he was anything but spectacular, going 9-for-20 from the field and held scoreless from long range while dishing three assists.
For Notre Dame, it'll advance to its first Elite Eight since 1979, squaring off against Kentucky.