West Virginia advances to Sweet 16 with win over Notre Dame, 83-71

West Virginia never trailed as the Mountaineers defeated Notre Dame, 83-71, on Saturday afternoon.

Jevon Carter led West Virginia (28-8) with 24 points to help defeat the Fighting Irish (26-10).

The Mountaineers started their scoring early with a 10-0 run, sinking four of their first five field goal attempts, including this three from Daxter Miles:

Notre Dame managed to cut the lead down little by little, but the Mountaineers managed to keep the lead, as they lead at the half 42-35.

Press Virginia made an appearance to start the second half. After a Carter jump shot, Nathan Adrian picked the pocket of Matt Farrell then dished it to Miles who gave it to Esa Ahmad for a one-handed slam.

Bonzie Colson and Farrell responded with a couple of threes to cut the Mountaineer lead to four, but Carter and Tarik Phillip responded right back with some threes of their own.

The Irish would never be that close for the remainder of the game.

Despite the lead, it’s fair to say that no Mountaineer fan quite felt comfortable as long as Colson was still in the game.

The exclamation point came with less than a minute to go with a Miles dunk to put West Virginia up 10.

Colson had a game-high 27 points for Notre Dame. He played in foul trouble for most of the game.

Miles, Phillip, Ahmad and Elijah Macon all finished in double figures for the Mountaineers.

West Virginia returns to action on Thursday in the SAP Center in San Jose as they take on either Gonzaga or Northwestern in the Sweet 16. Time and TV to be announced.