Stephen F. Austin put forth a tremendous effort to try to keep their Cinderella run alive, but the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had other ideas.
The two sides traded the lead back and forth throughout the first 30 minutes of the game, then Notre Dame finally looked like they had an advantage when they built a 62-55 lead. However, SFA responded with a 20-8 run late to give themselves a 75-70 lead with two minutes left.
Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson then led a miniature comeback for the Irish, hitting a pair of free throws to pull them within one with 46.5 seconds left. After Stephen F. Austin missed a shot with less than 20 seconds left, Jackson rushed down the court and had a missed layup of his own tipped in by Rex Pflueger with just 1.5 seconds left:
Thomas Walkup had a huge performance for the second straight game, leading the Lumberjacks with 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Guard Demetrious Floyd also had a big game with 16 points.
Notre Dame was led by a monster double-double from Auguste (16 points, 16 rebounds) and a hot-shooting night from V.J. Beachum (15 points) to go along with 18 points from Jackson.
The Irish have now reached the Sweet 16 for the second straight year. They will face the winner of (2) Xavier vs. (7) Wisconsin in Philadelphia, PA on Sunday.
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