Fighting Irish are in Elite 8
PHILADELPHIA Demetrius Jackson stripped the ball and scored the go-ahead layup with 14.7 seconds left and Notre Dame advanced to the brink of its first Final Four in 38 years with a 61-56 win over Wisconsin on Friday night in the East Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.
Jackson sealed the win with a pair of free throws to send the Irish (24-11) into a regional final for the second straight season. Notre Dame lost to Kentucky a year ago. This year, the Irish will get a shot at top-seeded North Carolina or Indiana on Sunday.
Vitto Brown’s 3-pointer with 26 seconds left put the Badgers (2213) up 56-53 and kept Wisconsin’s shot at a third straight Final Four alive. But the Irish shook off a miserable shooting game down the stretch and have their first Final Four since 1978 in sight.
V.J. Beachem scored 19 points, Zach Auguste had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Jackson scored 16 points.
Ethan Happ led the Badgers with 14 points and 12 boards.
Both of these teams needed last-second game-winning shots in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16. After a sluggish start, the dramatics Friday night came right on time.
Happ put the Badgers up 53-51 and the lead but Jackson brought the Irish right back with two straight layups that sent the Notre Dame crowd into a frenzy.
Wisconsin star Nigel Hayes was a non-factor, scoring 11 points on just 4 of 12 shooting.
The Irish tied it at 34 on Jackson’s runner and Auguste had a monster block from behind on Hayes that sparked some life into a stagnant game. Hayes snapped the tie with a 3 the next time down and a snoozer suddenly felt like March Madness. Hayes had missed 20 straight 3-pointers.
Zak Showalter flew out of nowhere — the lane? the sky? — and slammed home a miss that put the Badgers up 39-38. The Badgers needed more of the same — but were doomed by off-kilter 3-point shooting (6 of 20) and 17 turnovers.
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Meanwhile, at the Midwest region semifinal in Chicago, Anthony Gill finished with a season-high 23 points, Mike Tobey came off the bench to score 18, and top-seeded Virginia beat Iowa State 84-71.
The Cavaliers (29-7) withstood a second-half push by the fourthseeded Cyclones (23-12) after grabbing a big lead in the early going and advanced to their first regional final since 1995.
Virginia will face Syracuse or Gonzaga on Sunday. A win would send the Cavaliers to their first Final Four since 1984, when coach Tony Bennett was a teenager.
Georges Niang had another big game for Iowa State, finishing with 30 points after scoring 28 against both Iona and Arkansas-Little Rock in the first two rounds. But an up-and-down first season under coach Steve Prohm ended on a disappointing note.
They got outscored 52-36 in the paint, with Gill finishing two points shy of a career high and Tobey missing his personal best by one. Gill had eight rebounds while Tobey grabbed seven.
ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon added 12 points and five assists for the Cavaliers.
Virginia was leading 49-35 early in the second half when Iowa State went on a 9-2 run. But Virginia kept its cool and got the lead back up to 15 — 63-48 — on a put-back by Tobey with 9:10 remaining.