DENVER — His spirits soaring a Mile High, Derrick Low finally unleashed a wide-angle smile of satisfaction last night after planting the Hawaiian flag on yet another previously unexplored college basketball frontier.

Low, a 2004 'Iolani School graduate from Honolulu, scored a game-high 18 points to help Washington State smother Notre Dame, 61-41, in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

An energetic sellout crowd of 19,299 at the Pepsi Center watched the Cougars, seeded No. 4 in the East Region, improve to 26-8 and advance to Thursday's regional semifinal in Charlotte, N.C., against the winner of today's game between No. 1-ranked North Carolina and Arkansas.

Low, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, thus becomes the first player from Hawai'i ever to advance to March Madness' Sweet Sixteen.

"This feels good," Low said. "Hopefully, all the kids in Hawai'i will see that this is possible ... if this is what you want, it can happen if you're willing to work hard and make the sacrifices."

After going 0 for 5 and scoreless in the first half of Thursday's 71-40 first-round victory over No. 13 seed Winthrop before finishing with 11 points, Low got untracked quickly last night and notched six points in the first 5 1/2 minutes.

No. 5 seed Notre Dame (25-8) raced out to a 5-0 lead, but Low's 12-foot jumper from just inside the free-throw line tied it at 7-7 with 15:16 remaining. He then sank two free throws and stuck another short jumper from the right baseline to give Washington State an 11-7 lead.

Low's two free throws with 1:58 left extended it to 27-15, and his 25-foot fallaway 3-pointer with a defender in his face put the Cougars up, 32-17, with 11 seconds remaining.

Tory Jackson's layup with three seconds left cut it to 32-19 entering the locker rooms.

Low finished the first half with 11 points, two steals, one assist and one offensive rebound.

"When Derrick is aggressive, that helps us," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. "Then he hit that dagger with the 3 ... he moves, he's a complete guard."

The Fighting Irish closed it to 38-31 after Kyle McAlarney's 3-pointer with 13:54 remaining, but that was as close at they would get as Low again caught fire.

He swished a 17-foot baseline jumper with 12:50 left to make it 40-31, then beat Jackson on a drive down the left side of the lane and scored a layup to push the lead to 42-31.

Those two baskets started the Cougars on a 16-4 run that was capped by Low's 3-pointer and assist to Aron Baynes for a layup that made it 54-35 with 7:50 remaining.

The 3-pointer was his 90th of the season, breaking the school record of 89 set by Jan-Michael Thomas in 1999.

By the time Low and the other starters exited the game with 1:38 left, Washington State led, 61-39. He finished with 18 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds.

But Bennett said Low's other contributions did not show up in the box score.

"I tell you what, I was so impressed with Derrick, that's the best I've seen him defensively — active with his hands, digging out loose balls," Bennett said. "He had a tough job because that kid is a great offensive rebounder, Tory Jackson. He ended up with three. We challenged him to keep him off the glass, and I thought Derrick defensively was as impressive as I've seen him in the gaps."

Kyle Weaver added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars, and Robbie Cowgill chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds. Baynes contributed six points and 11 rebounds, and point guard Taylor Rochestie had six points and seven assists.

Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody, the Big East Conference Player of the Year, grabbed a game-high 22 rebounds but was limited to 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting. McAlarney led the Fighting Irish with 12 points.

Notre Dame entered the game among the nation's scoring leaders at 80.2 points per game, but finished with a season-low 41 points on 13-of-53 shooting (24.5 percent) from the field.

Read Wes' blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.