KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Salim Stoudamire attempts a 3-point shot during Arizona's 96-95 double-overtime win over Gonzaga Saturday. The win earned the Wildcats a trip to the ÎSweet 16' where they will face Notre Dame tonight in Anaheim.

ANAHEIM, Calif. ÷ The Notre Dame basketball team adopted the motto and has used it the entire season.

If the 3-point shot drops, great; if not, keep shooting it and don't look back.

"The 3-ball is a huge part of our offense," Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "We want to shoot the ball and shoot it confidently."

It's no secret that when Notre Dame takes on No. 1 seed Arizona today at 4:27 p.m. PST in the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim that it will be firing from long range early and often.

The question is, can Arizona defend it?

"One of the biggest problems in defending the 3-point shot is that it extends and puts maximum pressure on your defense," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "Our teams are similar in that way."

You live by the three, you die by the three. - Jason Gardner

Olson said if he had to compare Notre Dame, the fifth seeded team in the west bracket, to a team that UA has played already this season, it would be Oregon. Both are teams that like to get up the floor and run the ball.

"The keys for us will be making sure we make a quick recovery from the offensive end of the court to the defensive end," Olson said. "It's going to be a game played from endline to endline, sideline to sideline, and I know that our players like to play that way."

The Fighting Irish has a trio of long-range bombers, starting with a duo of seniors in Matt Carroll and Dan Miller. Both of them are over 6-foot-6, which could cause problems for Arizona, as it will have to extend its defense leaving the middle open for penetration and for open passing lanes.

Game info: Who: UA vs. ND When: Tonight, 5:27 p.m. MST Where: Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim TV: CBS (National) Who to Watch: UA- Jason Gardner, ND- Chris Thomas

The third who could hurt UA from behind the arc is sophomore point guard Chris Thomas.

"They like to shoot the three, so we need to limit their 3-point shots," Gardner said. "We need to keep a hand in their face."

Like Notre Dame, Arizona is a team that can also hit from behind the arc, with the likes of Gardner, sophomore Salim Stoudamire, senior Luke Walton and senior Rick Anderson.

But unlike Notre Dame, Arizona can go away from the 3-point shot.

"I think a lot of it has to do with getting the ball inside and letting the big men kick out for open shots," Gardner said. "As long as we are making the shots, (Olson) has no problem. If we're not, we have to get the ball back inside."

Brey said he knows with one of his team's weaknesses being defense that it needs to be able to defend UA's 3-point shot.

"If you can limit and make them shoot twos and score twos, that helps us because I always think we are going to score enough points to be in the game," Brey said. "But if we are giving up those threes, as I've said before, obviously they count more. But they are also momentum plays. They get the crowd going. They get the rest of the team confident."

Carroll, a Big East First teamer and consistently the Fighting Irish's best shooter over the course of the season, has been slowed recently by an ankle injury. The injury limited him to only 14 minutes that resulted in a season-low two points during their one-point win against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the first round. Carroll did bounce back to score 11 points in 31 minutes against Illinois.

"Ankle is feeling better," he said. "Actually, I didn't practice (Tuesday), but the reason for that is we are hoping that by (today), come game time, I will be 100%."

Last season before Notre Dame played Duke in the second round, Brey asked his team to score at least 90 points, if it wanted to have a shot at beating the Blue Devils.

So what is he going to tell his team this season?

"I'm thinking about asking for 100," he said.