Demetrius Jackson steals an Elite Eight trip for Notre Dame

Wisconsin and Notre Dame arrived at their Sweet 16 matchup in the NCAA tournament Friday night after sinking game-winning shots in the final second of their previous victories. 

Making any shot proved difficult for both teams in the first half, but the offense came around some in the second half and once again these teams kept their fans on the edge of their seats, biting fingernails, pulling out hair and covering their eyes into the final seconds. 

Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson didn’t play his best through much of the contest, but he made the biggest plays of the game in the final 30 seconds with two layups, two steals and two free throws that allowed the Fighting Irish to win 61-56 and advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight season. 

[Georgia Tech made the correct choice firing Brian Gregory]

Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig was the hero in a win over Xavier but will wish he could replay the final seconds of this one over again. With his team down by three and less than 10 seconds remaining, he allowed Jackson to pick his pocket near mid court.

The Badgers never got a look at a tying 3-point attempt because of the turnover. Jackson sank two free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach. Wisconsin played in the past two Final Fours and came within seconds of a third consecutive trip to a regional final. 

Wisconsin’s Vitto Brown knocked down a 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining off an assist from Nigel Hayes to put the Badgers up three. Jackson came right back down and drove for a layup with 19.3 seconds remaining. Jackson immediately stole the ball from Hayes and scored again with 14 seconds remaining to put the Fighting Irish up by one.

And then he stunned Koenig. Jackson was largely responsible for Notre Dame’s closing 8-0 run in the final 19 seconds. He finished with 16 points, six assists and three steals. V.J. Beachem led Notre Dame with 19.
 
Those final seconds seemed like an explosion of offense compared to the the previous 39 minutes for Notre Dame, which scored just 19 points in the first half. It was the lowest point total for the Fighting Irish in any half all season. 

The two teams combined to miss 39 shots in the first 20 minutes.

Wisconsin had won its first two games in the tournament, despite individual and team-wide shooting struggles, but it finally caught up with the Badgers when they were on the brink of another defensive win.

Ethan Happ led the Badgers with 14 points and Hayes scored 11 on just 4-for-12 shooting.

Hayes endured a miserable shooting slump to end the season, dating back to the Badgers’ loss to Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament. In his final four games, including Friday, Hayes made just 11 of 54 attempts. Hayes had missed 20 straight 3-pointers until he finally knocked one down just under the 10-minute mark in the second half.

The loss capped an up-and-down year for the Badgers, who watched former coach Bo Ryan retire in December. Wisconsin started 9-9 but eventually clawed back into the postseason picture and earned coach Greg Gard a new five-year contract as Ryan’s permanent replacement.

Notre Dame moves on to play either Indiana or North Carolina on Sunday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo