NCAA 2015: Notre Dame Selamat ke Elite Eight

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (32-5, 14-4 ACC) memenangi laga di Sweet 16 Turnamen NCAA 2015 wilayah Midwest di Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, Jumat (27/3). Notre Dame menang 81-70 atas Wichita State Shockers (30-5, 17-1 MVC).

Fighting Irish bermain konsisten sejak babak pertama yang mereka menang dengan 33-30. Pada babak kedua, marjin menjauh dan Fighting Irish menang dengan 48-40.

Pelatih Fighting Irish, Mike Brey selalu mengingatkan agar para pemainnya fokus. "Saya selalu meminta mereka fokus."

Demetrius Jackson mencetak 20 angka untuk Notre Dame. Inilah pertama kali setelah 36 tahun Notre Dame kembali ke Elite Eight.

Fighting Irish menembak 75% dalam 20 menit terakhir.

Fred VanVleet mencetak 25 angka untuk Shockers. Darius Carter menambahkan 22 angka. Dari Fighting Irish, Pat Connaughton berkontribusi 16 angka 10 rebound, Jerian Grant 11 assist 9 angka, Steve Vasturia 15 poin, dan Zach Augusta 15 angka.

CATATAN STATISTIK PERTANDINGAN
* Notre Dame averaged 1.23 points per possession Thursday, the highest efficiency allowed by Wichita State this season. The Fighting Irish averaged 1.37 points per possession in the second half.
* Jerian Grant had 11 assists Thursday, the most for any player in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and one shy of a career high. Grant's assists led to 27 points, the second-highest total for any player in the tournament (Kyle Collinsworth's 10 assists led to 28 points vs. Ole Miss).
* In the second half Thursday, Notre Dame made 18-of-24 shots (75.0%), the second-best percentage for any half in the 2015 NCAA Tournament (Xavier - 81.3% vs. Georgia State), including 6-of-8 from the 3-point line.
* Notre Dame outscored Wichita State 31-15 outside the paint Thursday, including 22-5 in the second half. Demetrius Jackson scored 14 points outside the paint on 5-of-6 shooting, nearly matching the Shockers' total himself.
*Notre Dame scored 38 paint points on 19-of-29 shooting (65.5%). In its first two NCAA Tournament games, Wichita State had allowed 22.0 paint points per game on 37.9% shooting, tied for the second-lowest percentage allowed in the field.
Notre Dame's effective field goal percentage (63.9%) was the second highest allowed by Wichita State this season (Northern Iowa - 66.3% on Jan. 31).
* Fred VanVleet and Darius Carter didn't get much help from the rest of their teammates tonight against Notre Dame. The two combined to score more than twice as many points as the rest of the team for the game, and they accounted for exactly 70 percent of the team's offense in the 2nd half.
* Wichita State and Notre Dame's Sweet 16 matchup is projected to be the closest game of the NCAA Tournament, according to BPI's pregame projections. BPI favors Wichita State (50.1%) by the slightest margin.
* Notre Dame ranks 2nd in the nation in effective field goal percentage, behind Gonzaga. Wichita State has allowed the 2nd-lowest effective field goal percentage in the nation since the start of February.
* Jerian Grant: 1st Notre Dame player with 10 assists in an NCAA Tournament game