Notre Dame Men’s Basketball: Not done yet.
Game one was challenging to say the least. Game two was a heart attack just waiting to happen but somehow the Irish fought back and got the win. How will game three play out? Lets take a peak at game three’s opponent: Wichita State.
The Wichita State Shockers play in the Missouri Valley Conference, and they finished their regular season play with a record of 30-4, with a conference record of 17-1, and a non-conference record of 13-3. In the Missouri Valley Tournament, Wichita State lost to Illinois State in the semi-final round by a score of 65-62.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament the Shockers powered past the Indiana Hoosiers 81-76. Point Guard Fred VanVleet scored a career-high tying 27 points as well as having four assists, two rebounds and two steals, while shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. VanVleet wasn’t the only one on fire in this game. Junior Guard Ron Baker added 15 points, five rebounds and five steals, and freshman Zach Brown tallied a career-high 11 points to go with eight rebounds off the bench.
In their game against Indiana, Wichita State shot 41 percent (25-for-61) from the field, but only hit 2-for-13 from three-point range. The Shockers did however convert at the free throw line by shooting 29-for-34 (85 percent).
In the second round of the NCAA Tournament the Shockers stunned fellow sunflower state rival the Kansas Jayhawks, defeating KU by a score of 78-65. They say that teams who are hot do well in the tourney. The Shockers definitely seem to be hot right now. In their win over Kansas, five Shockers scored in double-figures. Tekele Cotton set the pace with a team-high 19 points, three assists and two rebounds. Fred VanVleet finished with 17 points, six assists and six rebounds. Ron Baker and Evan Wessel with 12 each and Darius Carter with eight of his 10 points in the second half.
The Shockers scored 49 of their 78 points in the second half on 59.3 percent shooting, while scoring a mere 29 points in the first half. After making only 3-of-12 3-point shots in their game against Indiana in the first round, the Shockers sunk 10-of-20 shots from three-point range in the game against Kansas, four of which were from Evan Wessel (and were all 12 of his points). KU made only 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
Wichita State isn’t the only team who is hot right now though. Here are some Notre Dame fun facts from UND.com.
• The Fighting Irish are making their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2003.
• The winner of the Notre Dame-Wichita State contest will face the Kentucky-West Virginia winner on Saturday in the Midwest Regional final.
• Notre Dame upped its win streak to seven games with victories over Northeastern (69-65) and Butler (67-64 in OT) in the second and third rounds of the NCAA Championship in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• Notre Dame is making its 16th appearance in the regional semifinals and the first since 2003. That year, the Irish fell to Arizona, 88-71, in the Sweet 16.
• The Irish are 5-10 all-time in the regional semifinals. Notre Dame’s last Sweet 16 win was a 79-71 triumph of Toledo in 1979.
• Notre Dame is 7-1 this season against its fellow Sweet 16 teams (2-1 vs. Duke, 2-0 vs. North Carolina, 1-0 vs. Louisville, 1-0 vs. NC State, 1-0 vs. Michigan State). The seven wins are tied with Duke (7-3) for the most.
• This season’s 31 wins are the second-most in Notre Dame history. The program record is 33 victories in 1908-09 (33-7).
How hot are the Irish right now? Notre Dame is 5-0 in postseason play this season (3-0 ACC tournament, 2-0 NCAA tournament). Those five games have all been decided by 32 points (6.4 ppg.). All five of the Fighting Irish starters are averaging double-figures in points in those games – Jerian Grant 16.6, Zach Auguste 13.4, Steve Vasturia 12.4, Demetrius Jackson 12.0, Pat Connaughton 11.8. The Irish are shooting in impressive 50.6 percent from the field (38.2 percent from three-point range), and Notre Dame opponents have been held to a 43.5 percent mark from the floor (25.9 from three-point range).
How does Notre Dame stack up against the Shockers? Notre Dame and Wichita State have only met twice, with each team winning once on their home court. The Fighting Irish topped the Shockers, 88-78, on Jan. 24, 1990 in South Bend, while Wichita State produced a 60-50 home victory over Notre Dame on Jan. 10, 1991. Notre Dame and Wichita State had no common opponents this season. Thursday’s game against the Shockers will be Notre Dame’s first game versus a Missouri Valley Conference opponent since an 83-70 defeat at the hands of Indiana State last season (Nov. 17, 2013). The Irish are 54-14 all-time against teams currently in the MVC.
So it comes down to a battle between two teams who are on hot streaks. Which team has what it takes to move on to the Elite Eight? Tune in Thursday night and find out! Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. (ET) inside Quicken Loans Arena, (Cleveland, Ohio).
Cheers & GO IRISH!
Her Loyal ... Daughter
Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.
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