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Notre Dame stuns No. 4 Ohio State

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Matt Doherty made an exception this time.

David Graves' 15-foot jumper at the buzzer gave Notre Dame a 59-57 upset of No. 4 Ohio State last night in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.

"I usually have a 'Midnight Rule,' where I only allow the guys to enjoy a win until midnight," Doherty said after winning his first game as a head coach. "But since we've got about a four-hour bus ride home, I guess I'll let them celebrate a little longer."

Graves, who finished with 18 points, dribbled from the backcourt to the left wing, fumbled for the ball for a split second and got off the shot as the buzzer sounded. The Fighting Irish, coming off a 14-16 season, will play at home in the second round Thursday night against Siena, an 89-79 winner over Davidson.

"It was a great feeling - 3, 2, 1, then shoot it with 18,000 screaming fans and one of the best players in the country on you," Graves said, referring to the Ohio State crowd and guard Scoonie Penn. "You dream of something like that when you're in your backyard, it's 10 at night and you're under the lights."

Ohio State, which was 27-9 last season and had four starters back from a team that reached the Final Four, pulled even on a three-point play by Penn with 18 seconds left.

"Obviously, it's a very disappointing loss," Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said. "Give a lot of the credit to Notre Dame. They had a good game plan and on this night it worked."

Doherty, a member of North Carolina's national championship team in 1982, was making his head coaching debut after lengthy assistant stints at Davidson and Kansas.

"I feel we're very fortunate," Doherty said. "We performed well and Ohio State didn't perform very well."

Troy Murphy led the Irish with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Martin Ingelsby added 14 points.

Only four players scored and only six even attempted a shot for Notre Dame, which won despite committing 25 turnovers.

Penn led the Buckeyes with 15 points, follow by Michael Redd with 11. But they both struggled all night and combined for only seven points in the second half.

"We didn't want Scoonie Penn beating us and I didn't want Michael Redd beating us," Doherty said. "We wanted to put the focus defensively on them."

Utah blows out Arkansas State

SALT LAKE CITY - The swarming Utah defense was in midseason form and center Nate Althoff looked great for a guy who wasn't supposed to be available until after Thanksgiving.

Althoff had 14 points and Jeff Johnsen added 10 last night and No. 16 Utah allowed six points through the first 13 minutes of the second half in a 76-43 victory over Arkansas State in the first round of the Preseason NIT.

Althoff, expected to be out until late this month with a back strain, scored Utah's first two baskets. The injury never bothered him, even when he went down hard four minutes into the second half on an intentional foul.

"Nate played pretty well," said Utah coach Rick Majerus, who didn't let Althoff speak with reporters afterward. "He was hurt. We weren't sandbagging. He just knows his way around because he's been there for you."

The Utes advanced to the second round and on Friday night will play the winner of tonight's game between Penn and No. 14 Kentucky.

The Indians started the 1999-00 season the same way they ended the last one: with a lopsided loss to Utah. The Utes beat Arkansas State 80-58 in the first round of the NCAA tournament last March.

Arkansas State point guard Chico Fletcher had four points, breaking a string of 33 games scoring in double figures.

"They took us out of everything we wanted to do,'' Fletcher said. ''That's why they're one of the best teams in the country. If I got by one guy, there was another waiting for me.''

Jamie Rosser added 13 points to lead the Indians while C.J. Pepper had 11.

"We came out and double-teamed the pick and then denied Fletcher after that," Johnsen said. "We wanted someone else to try and beat us besides Fletcher and Rosser."

Utah extended its homecourt winning streak to 36 games, the third-longest streak in the nation.

Other first round games last night:

Siena 89, Davidson 79

New Mexico State 69, Hoftstra 55