The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Wichita State , 81-70 in the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament led by Demetrius Jackson’s 20 points. They advanced to the Elite Eight round where they’ll face tournament top seed Kentucky Wildcats for a place in the semi-final.

Notre Dame also got good contributions from guards Steve Vasturia and Pat Connaughton and forward Zach Auguste who all finished with 15 points or more. Guard Jerian Grant added 9 points and 11 assists for Notre Dame, which led 33-30 at half time but outscored Wichita State, 48-40 in the second half. Grant’s 11 assists is the 2015 NCAA Tournament high in this season’s March Madness.

"I've never seen a one-point lead get out of hand so quickly," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said to ESPN.com about Notre Dame’s second half run. "It did tonight because of their firepower."

The Shockers were led by guard Fred VanVleet, who had a game-high 25 points and forward Darius Carter, who had 22 points and 8 rebounds. Wichita State’s NCAA Tournament run is over and previously beat the Indiana Hoosiers, 81-76 in the opening round and upset No. 2 seed Kansas Jayhawks, 78-65 in the Round of 32. Notre Dame is now one win away from the NCAA Final Four after also beating the Northeastern Huskies, 69-65 in the second round and the Butler Bulldogs, 67-64 in the Round of 32.

Surprisingly, the first two games were close matches but not the Sweet Sixteen match-up. Up next are the Wildcats, which are undefeated in this NCA season after easily beating the West Virginia Mountaineers, 78-39 also on Thursday.

Email j.gloria@IBTimes.com.au to contact author.