Notre Dame Advances To Elite 8 In 81-70 Win Over Shockers
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Wichita State Shockers Thursday night, and will face either Kentucky or West Virginia in the “Elite 8” portion of the tournament.
The Irish are on their way to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1979.
They were able to take care of business against the seventh-seeded Wichita State Shockers with a huge second-half effort to ultimately gain the 81-70 win.
The Irish started off the game on a roll with but Wichita State chopped the lead down to just three at the half.
Thanks to the Irish shooting a whooping 75 percent (18 of 24) of their shots in the second half, they were up by as much as 20 points in the second-half which gave them the firepower that was needed to get the win.
Pat Connaughton continued to contribute for the Irish, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the process. Guard Jerian Grant had 9 points and dished out 11 assists.
Fred VanVleet had 25 points for the Shockers but it wasn’t enough to escape Notre Dame’s streak of shooting in the game.
More from Ink on Indy
- Still Searching for Their Groove, Pacers Take on Struggling Magic Thursday Night
- Pacers Travel to the Nation’s Capital to Begin Four Game Road Trip
- Update on Pacers’ Oladipo’s Serious Leg Injury
- Has Romeo Langford Been a Disappointment for the Hoosiers?
- The Indianapolis Colts Have a Brutal Road Schedule in 2019
While nothing is guaranteed in sports, let alone the NCAA tournament, Notre Dame will likely be playing Kentucky in the Elite 8 match-up.
I hate counting teams out but Kentucky is just too much of a force this year for anyone to really stop their undefeated streak this year.
As I stated not too long ago though, a Notre Dame/Kentucky match-up would be one that fans all over would enjoy and look forward to, mainly because I believe that Notre Dame is one of the few teams that could really give the Wildcats a run for their money and have a chance to knock them out of the tournament.
For now though, the Irish are enjoying their win over Wichita State. But come Saturday night they will have to be locked in if they want to pull of the upset of the season.