Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish stole a low-scoring Sweet 16 victory from the Wisconsin Badgers on Friday, 61-56, at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

Demetrius Jackson stole the ball from Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes with 16 seconds left and the Irish trailing by one. He then drove to the basket and converted a layup for a 57-56 lead. His team held on for the rest of the way with perfect free-throw shooting to seal the victory.

It was a historic win for the No. 6 seed, per ESPN:

The second half was a back-and-forth battle, but the first half was ugly for both teams.

Wisconsin used strong defense to hold the Irish without a point for a five-minute stretch, turning a 15-13 lead into a 22-13 advantage. However, the Badgers shot only 34.6 percent in the first 20 minutes and led just 23-19 at the break.

Stu Jackson of AllHoosiers.com took a shot at the ineptitude of the teams in the first half:

However, ESPN.com's John Gasaway took a different approach, praising the Badgers for their strong defense, which held Notre Dame to its lowest-scoring half of the season, per CBS Sports CBB:

It's one of the reasons the No. 7 Badgers just missed their third straight Elite Eight appearance despite having a new coach (Greg Gard) and losing much of their offense from a season ago.

Perhaps it also had something to do with some strong support from former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver:

While it couldn't have hurt, Wisconsin's early success probably had more to do with freshman Ethan Happ's strong play, especially when facing star forward Zach Auguste, according to Jason McIntyre of the Big Lead:

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today and Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post noticed Auguste's early troubles as well:

Even so, the Irish battled as V.J. Beachem poured in a game-high 19 points, Jackson had 16 and Auguste finished strong with 13 points and 12 rebounds. 

An 8-0 run for Notre Dame tied the game at 34-34 with 10:13 left, before Hayes hit a three-pointer to end the Wisconsin drought on the next possession.

After Notre Dame took a short-lived lead, Zak Showalter threw down a monster putback dunk to give the Badgers a 39-38 lead and bring the Wisconsin fans to their feet:

With the teams tied at 44-44, Hayes hit a three-pointer, and a Wisconsin steal and layup by Jordan Hill followed for a seemingly insurmountable lead in a game like this one.

ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg understood the importance of the mini-run that came with Happ on the bench with four fouls:

However, it wouldn't prove to be enough, as Notre Dame ended the game on another 8-0 run to pull out the victory.

Happ ended his freshman season with a double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds), while Hayes and Showalter each had 11 points.

The Irish will face the winner of Friday's game between the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers.

Either one should be a great matchup Sunday, but the ACC vs. ACC storyline would add to the drama should the Tar Heels advance.

Postgame Reaction

The Internet was abuzz over the victory that included eight points in the final 20 seconds from the Irish. It caused Greenberg to wonder if Notre Dame could make a long run:

The Badgers' Big Ten foe, Indiana University, gave props to the Irish:

While Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, who was coaching with an injured calf, was giving a postgame interview on how his team pulled out the victory, his players had some fun at his expense, per NCAA March Madness:

Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated detailed the success Brey has had the past two years:

The mood was much different in the Wisconsin locker room as head coach Greg Gard said this loss may stay with him for a while, per the Badgers' Twitter account: "This will sting, but I'm proud of what this team accomplished." 

Auguste, who is second in the nation in double-doubles per ESPN Stats & Info, probably will be on his phone for a while after his performance, per Auerbach:

"

Zach Auguste tells me he got 124 unread messages when he checked his phone in the locker room.

— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 26, 2016"

While it takes a little luck to make a deep run in the tournament, the Irish, following back-to-back successful seasons, are showing it's more about talent and toughness.